diff --git a/osu.Game/Database/ArchiveModelManager.cs b/osu.Game/Database/ArchiveModelManager.cs
index 019749760f..320f108886 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Database/ArchiveModelManager.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Database/ArchiveModelManager.cs
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ using osu.Framework.Extensions.IEnumerableExtensions;
 using osu.Framework.Logging;
 using osu.Framework.Platform;
 using osu.Framework.Threading;
+using osu.Game.Extensions;
 using osu.Game.IO;
 using osu.Game.IO.Archives;
 using osu.Game.IPC;
@@ -192,7 +193,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Database
             else
             {
                 notification.CompletionText = imported.Count == 1
-                    ? $"Imported {imported.First().Value}!"
+                    ? $"Imported {imported.First().Value.GetDisplayString()}!"
                     : $"Imported {imported.Count} {HumanisedModelName}s!";
 
                 if (imported.Count > 0 && PostImport != null)
diff --git a/osu.Game/Database/ModelDownloader.cs b/osu.Game/Database/ModelDownloader.cs
index 3c1f181f24..43ba62dfe0 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Database/ModelDownloader.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Database/ModelDownloader.cs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Humanizer;
 using osu.Framework.Logging;
 using osu.Framework.Platform;
+using osu.Game.Extensions;
 using osu.Game.Online.API;
 using osu.Game.Overlays.Notifications;
 
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Database
 
             DownloadNotification notification = new DownloadNotification
             {
-                Text = $"Downloading {request.Model}",
+                Text = $"Downloading {request.Model.GetDisplayString()}",
             };
 
             request.DownloadProgressed += progress =>
diff --git a/osu.Game/Extensions/ModelExtensions.cs b/osu.Game/Extensions/ModelExtensions.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5c96add076
--- /dev/null
+++ b/osu.Game/Extensions/ModelExtensions.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+// Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
+// See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
+
+using osu.Game.Beatmaps;
+using osu.Game.Rulesets;
+using osu.Game.Scoring;
+using osu.Game.Users;
+
+namespace osu.Game.Extensions
+{
+    public static class ModelExtensions
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Returns a user-facing string representing the <paramref name="model"/>.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// <para>
+        /// Non-interface types without special handling will fall back to <see cref="object.ToString()"/>.
+        /// </para>
+        /// <para>
+        /// Warning: This method is _purposefully_ not called <c>GetDisplayTitle()</c> like the others, because otherwise
+        /// extension method type inference rules cause this method to call itself and cause a stack overflow.
+        /// </para>
+        /// </remarks>
+        public static string GetDisplayString(this object model)
+        {
+            string result = null;
+
+            switch (model)
+            {
+                case IBeatmapSetInfo beatmapSetInfo:
+                    result = beatmapSetInfo.Metadata?.GetDisplayTitle();
+                    break;
+
+                case IBeatmapInfo beatmapInfo:
+                    result = beatmapInfo.GetDisplayTitle();
+                    break;
+
+                case IBeatmapMetadataInfo metadataInfo:
+                    result = metadataInfo.GetDisplayTitle();
+                    break;
+
+                case IScoreInfo scoreInfo:
+                    result = scoreInfo.GetDisplayTitle();
+                    break;
+
+                case IRulesetInfo rulesetInfo:
+                    result = rulesetInfo.Name;
+                    break;
+
+                case IUser user:
+                    result = user.Username;
+                    break;
+            }
+
+            // fallback in case none of the above happens to match.
+            result ??= model.ToString();
+            return result;
+        }
+    }
+}