diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 301142a..fa62af6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -36,8 +36,10 @@ SYNOPSIS
     discogs-tag tag RELEASE <flags>
 
 DESCRIPTION
-    The RELEASE is the numeric portion of a Discogs release URL, e.g. 16215626 in
-        https://www.discogs.com/release/16215626-Pink-Floyd-Wish-You-Were-Here
+    The RELEASE can be one of the following:
+        - A full Discogs release URL, e.g. https://www.discogs.com/release/16215626-Pink-Floyd-Wish-You-Were-Here
+        - The numeric portion of the above, e.g. 16215626
+        - A local file URI pointing to a release JSON file
 
     The SKIP flag can take one or more of the following values, comma-separated:
         artist, composer, title, position, date, subtrack, album, genre, albumartist
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 8d77cb9..bd8929a 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "discogs-tag"
-version = "0.4.2"
+version = "0.5.0"
 description = "A rudimentary audio tagger based on Discogs metadata."
 authors = ["infojunkie <karim.ratib@gmail.com>"]
 readme = "README.md"
diff --git a/src/discogs_tag/cli.py b/src/discogs_tag/cli.py
index 871180a..adc8d7b 100644
--- a/src/discogs_tag/cli.py
+++ b/src/discogs_tag/cli.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import glob
 import sys
 import re
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
 from pprint import pprint
 from functools import reduce
 from contextlib import suppress
@@ -35,21 +36,20 @@ def tag(
 ):
   """Tag the audio files with the given Discogs release.
 
-  The RELEASE is the numeric portion of a Discogs release URL, e.g. 16215626 in
-      https://www.discogs.com/release/16215626-Pink-Floyd-Wish-You-Were-Here
+  The RELEASE can be one of the following:
+      - A full Discogs release URL, e.g. https://www.discogs.com/release/16215626-Pink-Floyd-Wish-You-Were-Here
+      - The numeric portion of the above, e.g. 16215626
+      - A local file URI pointing to a release JSON file
 
   The SKIP flag can take one or more of the following values, comma-separated:
       artist, composer, title, position, date, subtrack, album, genre, albumartist
 
   """
   options = parse_options(locals())
-  request = urllib.request.Request(f'https://api.discogs.com/releases/{release}', headers = {
-    'User-Agent': f'{__NAME__} {__VERSION__}'
-  })
-  with urllib.request.urlopen(request) as response:
-    data = json.load(response)
-    files = list_files(dir)
-    apply_metadata(data, files, options)
+  response = get_release(release)
+  data = json.load(response)
+  files = list_files(dir)
+  apply_metadata(data, files, options)
 
 def copy(
   src,
@@ -145,6 +145,18 @@ def rename(
     with suppress(OSError):
       os.rmdir(src_root)
 
+def get_release(release):
+  """ Get release JSON from Discogs URL, file URI or Discogs release number. """
+  headers = {
+    'User-Agent': f'{__NAME__} {__VERSION__}'
+  }
+  try:
+    request = urllib.request.Request(release, headers=headers)
+    return urllib.request.urlopen(request)
+  except Exception:
+    request = urllib.request.Request(f'https://api.discogs.com/releases/{release}', headers=headers)
+    return urllib.request.urlopen(request)
+
 def read_metadata(audios, options):
   """Read metadata from audio files and return data structure that mimics Discogs release."""
   def safe_position(audio, n):
diff --git a/tests/test_discogs_tag.py b/tests/test_discogs_tag.py
index bf1c07f..20764d2 100644
--- a/tests/test_discogs_tag.py
+++ b/tests/test_discogs_tag.py
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 from discogs_tag.cli import (
+  list_files,
   read_metadata,
   merge_metadata,
   apply_metadata,
   parse_options,
-  list_files,
   rename_component,
   rename_path,
-  rename_file
+  rename_file,
+  get_release
 )
 import pytest
 import json
@@ -213,3 +214,8 @@ def test_rename_file():
     'title': ['Title'],
     'date': ['2024']
   }, '%z - (%y) %b/', parse_options({ 'dry': True, 'ignore': False })) == '/dest/path/to/test.flac'
+
+def test_get_release():
+  assert json.load(get_release('file:tests/16215626.json'))['id'] == 16215626
+  assert json.load(get_release('16215626'))['id'] == 16215626
+  assert json.load(get_release('https://api.discogs.com/releases/16215626'))['id'] == 16215626