diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 927038a..f048734 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -4,17 +4,21 @@ A single-container voice assistant built on LiveKit Agents. Speaks and listens i
 
 ## Architecture
 
-One Docker container runs three processes via supervisord:
+One Docker container runs four processes via supervisord:
 
 1. **LiveKit server** — open-source WebRTC media transport (port 7880 TCP, 7882 UDP muxed media)
 2. **Voice agent** — Python LiveKit Agents pipeline: Azure STT → LLM (OpenWebUI) → Azure TTS
 3. **Web frontend** — static HTML served by nginx (port 9178 by default)
+4. **Media server** — FastAPI music library/player coordinator (port 8092 internal, proxied at /media/api/)
 
 ```
 Browser ──WebRTC──► LiveKit Server ──audio──► Agent
    ▲                                              │
    └────────── audio ◄────────────────────────────┘
                         Azure STT → LLM (OpenWebUI) → Azure TTS
+
+Browser ──HTTP──► nginx /media/api/ ──► Media server ──► yt-dlp/ffmpeg ──► ./media
+   └────── audio element ◄── /media/files/ (nginx static, Range) ──────────┘
 ```
 
 ## Quick Start
@@ -40,6 +44,7 @@ LAN access requires firewall rules: `9178/tcp` (UI + signaling), `7882/udp`
 | 7880  | TCP      | LiveKit HTTP/WS      | internal only (proxied via nginx at /livekit/) |
 | 7881  | TCP      | LiveKit RTC media (TCP fallback) | LAN |
 | 7882  | UDP      | LiveKit RTC media (muxed) | LAN   |
+| 8092  | TCP      | Media server (library, player state, stream proxy) | internal only (proxied via nginx at /media/api/) |
 | 9178  | TCP      | Web frontend (HTTPS) | LAN          |
 
 ## Configuration
@@ -53,6 +58,33 @@ Key variables:
 - `LLM_BASE_URL` — OpenAI-compatible endpoint (default `http://192.168.86.2:3005/api`, OpenWebUI)
 - `LLM_MODEL` — default model (default `qwen2.5-vl-3b`; switchable live from the web UI)
 - `LLM_API_KEY` — OpenWebUI API key (bears `sk-…`)
+- `YTDLP_COOKIES` — optional path to a cookies.txt inside the container (e.g. `/data/media/cookies.txt`) for reliable YouTube downloads
+
+## Media Player
+
+Hope can play music on the web UI's media player: YouTube Music search →
+yt-dlp download → ffmpeg transcode to mp3 → nginx static streaming (HTTP
+Range) back to the browser's `<audio>` element. Live audio stream URLs
+(internet radio) are added to the library and proxied over HTTPS by the
+media server (mixed-content safe).
+
+- The permanent library lives in `./media` (bind-mounted to `/data/media`):
+  `files/` mp3s, `thumbs/` cover art, `jobs/` download status, `library.json`.
+- `web/media_server.py` owns the library, search, download jobs (one at a
+  time), and per-room player desired state. The browser is the actual player:
+  it polls `GET /media/api/state?room=…`, reconciles, and reports real
+  playback back via `POST /media/api/report`.
+- Hope's tools live in `agent/media_mcp.py` (MCP, id "media"):
+  `search_music`, `play_song`, `offer_song_choices`, `pause_music`,
+  `resume_music`, `stop_music`, `skip_song`, `seek_music`, `now_playing`,
+  `list_library`, `add_stream`. The MCP process is spawned per session with
+  `MEDIA_ROOM` set to the LiveKit room name, scoping player state per room.
+- **Music and conversation are mutually exclusive.** When a track plays, the
+  UI reports `{type: "media_state", state: "playing"}` on data-channel topic
+  "media-control" and the agent disables its mic (`_apply_listening` in
+  agent.py). Engaging Hope (Start conversation / text message) pauses the
+  music; ending the conversation resumes what was playing. Voice commands
+  (pause/skip/…) work whenever the conversation is active.
 
 ## Voice Selection
 
@@ -104,16 +136,24 @@ curl -s "https://eastus.tts.speech.microsoft.com/cognitiveservices/v1" \
 ├── Dockerfile           ← multi-stage build
 ├── entrypoint.sh        ← regenerates self-signed cert with LAN IP at start
 ├── livekit.yaml         ← LiveKit server config
-├── nginx.conf           ← HTTPS UI + /livekit/ WS proxy
-├── supervisord.conf     ← process manager (livekit, agent, nginx, token-server)
+├── nginx.conf           ← HTTPS UI + /livekit/ WS proxy + /media/ (static + API)
+├── supervisord.conf     ← process manager (livekit, agent, nginx, token-server, media-server)
 ├── certs/               ← persisted self-signed cert (volume mount)
+├── media/               ← permanent music library (bind-mounted to /data/media)
+│   ├── files/           ← transcoded mp3 tracks (nginx-served, HTTP Range)
+│   ├── thumbs/          ← cover art
+│   ├── jobs/            ← download job status snapshots
+│   └── library.json     ← library metadata (permanent)
 ├── agent/
 │   ├── agent.py         ← LiveKit Agents voice pipeline
+│   ├── media_mcp.py     ← Hope's music tools (YouTube Music via media server)
 │   ├── pyproject.toml   ← Python deps (uv)
 │   └── uv.lock          ← locked dependency versions
 └── web/
-    ├── index.html       ← single-page voice UI
-    ├── app.js           ← LiveKit client logic
+    ├── index.html       ← single-page voice UI (+ music panel)
+    ├── app.js           ← LiveKit client logic (+ player reconciliation)
+    ├── media_server.py  ← FastAPI library/search/download/player state
+    ├── token_server.py  ← LiveKit token endpoint (mints room name)
     ├── manifest.json    ← PWA manifest
     ├── favicon.svg      ← site icon
     ├── livekit-client.umd.js ← vendored LiveKit JS SDK (no CDN)
@@ -135,6 +175,10 @@ curl -s "https://eastus.tts.speech.microsoft.com/cognitiveservices/v1" \
 - **Voice changes are live.** The web UI sends a data message to the agent; the agent calls `tts.update_options(voice=...)` without restarting. The agent filters data messages by topic ("voice-control") before processing.
 - **Model changes are live too.** The agent fetches the chat-capable model list (`HopeLLM` filters out embedding/reranker ids) and publishes `{type: "models", models, selected}`; the UI's settings sheet renders a picker and sends `{type: "set_model", model}`, which calls `HopeLLM.update_options(model=...)` (mutates `self._opts.model`) and acks with `{type: "model_changed", model}`. The choice persists in the browser's localStorage.
 - **All supervisord programs log to /dev/stdout** so `docker compose logs -f voice` shows everything. Individual process logs are no longer written to files.
+- **Music downloads are mp3, not YouTube streams.** The media server transcodes with yt-dlp (`-x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 192K --embed-thumbnail`) into `/data/media/files/{video_id}.mp3`; nginx serves those files as statics with native HTTP Range, which is what makes seeking work in the `<audio>` element. Never point the player at YouTube directly.
+- **External stream URLs are proxied, never played directly.** An `http://` radio URL would be blocked as mixed content on the HTTPS UI, so `GET /media/api/stream/{id}` re-serves the upstream over HTTPS with Range passthrough. Downloaded tracks on that endpoint just redirect to `/media/files/`.
+- **Player state is per-room desired state, reconciled by the browser.** The media server never streams to anything; it records what SHOULD play per LiveKit room and the browser polls and reports back. Track ids for YouTube tracks are the video ids (dedupe by video_id); stream tracks get `s<uuid>`.
+- **Anonymous yt-dlp first, cookies when flaky.** Search (`ytsearch`) and downloads work anonymously from a residential IP; if YouTube starts bot-blocking, drop a cookies.txt into `./media/cookies.txt` and set `YTDLP_COOKIES=/data/media/cookies.txt`.
 
 ## Git
 
diff --git a/media/jobs/477f760d9615.json b/media/jobs/477f760d9615.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e556385
--- /dev/null
+++ b/media/jobs/477f760d9615.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"id": "477f760d9615", "track_id": "qATbf5-D8bU", "stage": "ready", "progress": 100.0, "error": null, "started_at": 1788023839.0112658}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/media/jobs/7436101dd688.json b/media/jobs/7436101dd688.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29ad29b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/media/jobs/7436101dd688.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"id": "7436101dd688", "track_id": "LWtRNwbmlb4", "stage": "ready", "progress": 100.0, "error": null, "started_at": 1788023614.9862244}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/media/jobs/d1aab72f3953.json b/media/jobs/d1aab72f3953.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7a7f42d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/media/jobs/d1aab72f3953.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"id": "d1aab72f3953", "track_id": "hR7xhDhDGR0", "stage": "error", "progress": 0.0, "error": "ERROR: [youtube] hR7xhDhDGR0: This video is unavailable", "started_at": 1788023758.6851313}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/media/library.json b/media/library.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..010f6ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/media/library.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"tracks": {}, "version": 42}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/README.md b/tests/README.md
index 691f0f9..d984278 100644
--- a/tests/README.md
+++ b/tests/README.md
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ python -m pytest tests/ -v -m "not slow"   # skip LLM/network-heavy tests
 | `test_web_ui.py` | nginx HTTPS UI (:9178) + token endpoint (:8091) | static assets, `/token` (direct + via nginx), `/livekit/` proxy |
 | `test_llm_api.py` | LLM API directly | completion, tool calling, `enable_thinking=false` latency, streaming |
 | `test_mcp_tools.py` | MCP servers via `docker exec` | weather/time, authenticated remote memory save/recall/delete, and local skills — probes are cleaned up |
+| `test_media.py` | media server API + player UI + media MCP | library/player state flow, Range proxy, static mp3 Range, live YT Music search (`-m slow`), gated full download (`HOPE_RUN_YTDLP_DOWNLOAD=1`) |
 | `test_agent_integration.py` | running container | agent process alive, worker registered with LiveKit, all 4 supervised processes up, container health, LiveKit HTTP API |
 | `test_compaction.py` | `HopeLLM._compact_context` in-container | compaction triggers >24 items, system prompt preserved, short context untouched |
 
diff --git a/tests/test_media.py b/tests/test_media.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eee333f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_media.py
@@ -0,0 +1,398 @@
+"""Tests for the media player subsystem.
+
+Covers the media server API (via nginx HTTPS and direct), the stream proxy
+with HTTP Range passthrough, static file serving of the ./media volume, the
+web player markup, and Hope's media MCP toolset. Download tests are gated
+behind HOPE_RUN_YTDLP_DOWNLOAD=1 (network-heavy, occasionally flaky).
+"""
+
+import json
+import os
+import subprocess
+import threading
+import time
+import uuid
+from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
+
+import httpx
+import pytest
+
+from conftest import TOKEN_URL, docker_exec
+
+MEDIA_API = "/media/api"
+TEST_ROOM = f"media-test-{uuid.uuid4().hex[:8]}"
+
+
+# ── local upstream for stream-proxy tests ───────────────────────────────────
+
+def _serve_fake_audio(payload: bytes):
+    """Tiny Range-capable HTTP server on an ephemeral host port.
+
+    The container uses host networking, so the media server inside the
+    container reaches it on 127.0.0.1.
+    """
+
+    class Handler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
+        def do_GET(self):
+            rng = self.headers.get("Range")
+            if rng and rng.startswith("bytes="):
+                start_s, _, end_s = rng[6:].partition("-")
+                start = int(start_s or 0)
+                end = int(end_s) if end_s else len(payload) - 1
+                end = min(end, len(payload) - 1)
+                body = payload[start : end + 1]
+                self.send_response(206)
+                self.send_header(
+                    "Content-Range", f"bytes {start}-{end}/{len(payload)}"
+                )
+            else:
+                body = payload
+                self.send_response(200)
+            self.send_header("Content-Type", "audio/mpeg")
+            self.send_header("Content-Length", str(len(body)))
+            self.send_header("Accept-Ranges", "bytes")
+            self.end_headers()
+            self.wfile.write(body)
+
+        def log_message(self, *args):
+            pass
+
+    server = HTTPServer(("127.0.0.1", 0), Handler)
+    port = server.server_address[1]
+    threading.Thread(target=server.serve_forever, daemon=True).start()
+    return server, f"http://127.0.0.1:{port}/audio.mp3"
+
+
+# ── health + basic API shape ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def test_media_server_health_via_nginx(client):
+    resp = client.get(f"{MEDIA_API}/healthz")
+    assert resp.status_code == 200
+    assert resp.json()["ok"] is True
+
+
+def test_media_library_endpoint(client):
+    resp = client.get(f"{MEDIA_API}/library")
+    assert resp.status_code == 200
+    data = resp.json()
+    assert isinstance(data["tracks"], list)
+    assert data["version"] >= 1
+    for track in data["tracks"]:
+        assert {"id", "kind", "title", "status"} <= set(track)
+
+
+def test_media_search_requires_query(client):
+    resp = client.post(f"{MEDIA_API}/search", json={"query": ""})
+    assert resp.status_code == 400
+
+
+def test_media_play_requires_target(client):
+    resp = client.post(f"{MEDIA_API}/play", json={"room": TEST_ROOM})
+    assert resp.status_code == 400
+
+
+def test_media_unknown_stream_404(client):
+    resp = client.get(f"{MEDIA_API}/stream/does-not-exist")
+    assert resp.status_code == 404
+
+
+# ── player state flow (uses a live stream track as the fixture) ─────────────
+
+def test_media_player_state_flow(client):
+    """add stream -> play -> state -> report -> pause -> seek hint -> stop."""
+    upstream, url = _serve_fake_audio(b"\x00" * 64)
+    try:
+        added = client.post(
+            f"{MEDIA_API}/streams", json={"name": "Test FM", "url": url}
+        )
+        assert added.status_code == 200
+        track = added.json()["track"]
+        track_id = track["id"]
+        assert track["kind"] == "stream"
+        assert track["status"] == "ready"
+        assert track["audio_url"].startswith(f"{MEDIA_API}/stream/")
+
+        played = client.post(
+            f"{MEDIA_API}/play", json={"room": TEST_ROOM, "track_id": track_id}
+        ).json()
+        assert played["desired"] == "playing"
+        assert played["track"]["id"] == track_id
+
+        state = client.get(f"{MEDIA_API}/state", params={"room": TEST_ROOM}).json()
+        assert state["track"]["id"] == track_id
+
+        client.post(
+            f"{MEDIA_API}/report",
+            json={"room": TEST_ROOM, "track_id": track_id,
+                  "state": "playing", "position": 12.5},
+        )
+        state = client.get(f"{MEDIA_API}/state", params={"room": TEST_ROOM}).json()
+        assert abs(state["reported"]["position"] - 12.5) < 0.01
+
+        client.post(f"{MEDIA_API}/control", json={"room": TEST_ROOM, "action": "pause"})
+        assert client.get(f"{MEDIA_API}/state", params={"room": TEST_ROOM}).json()["desired"] == "paused"
+
+        client.post(
+            f"{MEDIA_API}/control",
+            json={"room": TEST_ROOM, "action": "seek", "position": 42},
+        )
+        hint = client.get(f"{MEDIA_API}/state", params={"room": TEST_ROOM}).json()["seek_hint"]
+        assert hint["position"] == 42
+
+        # start_paused variant: scope transfer without starting playback
+        transfer = client.post(
+            f"{MEDIA_API}/play",
+            json={"room": TEST_ROOM + "-b", "track_id": track_id, "start_paused": True},
+        ).json()
+        assert transfer["desired"] == "paused"
+
+        # playing clears any open suggestion choices
+        client.post(
+            f"{MEDIA_API}/choices",
+            json={"room": TEST_ROOM, "choices": [{"video_id": "x", "title": "X"}]},
+        )
+        client.post(
+            f"{MEDIA_API}/play", json={"room": TEST_ROOM, "track_id": track_id}
+        )
+        assert client.get(f"{MEDIA_API}/state", params={"room": TEST_ROOM}).json()["choices"] == []
+
+        stopped = client.post(
+            f"{MEDIA_API}/control", json={"room": TEST_ROOM, "action": "stop"}
+        ).json()
+        assert stopped["desired"] == "stopped"
+    finally:
+        upstream.shutdown()
+        # Remove the test stream from the permanent library.
+        try:
+            client.delete(f"{MEDIA_API}/tracks/{track_id}")
+        except (httpx.HTTPError, UnboundLocalError):
+            pass
+
+
+def test_media_stream_proxy_and_range(client):
+    """External audio URLs must be reachable same-origin (HTTPS) and support
+    Range passthrough so the browser can seek progressive streams."""
+    payload = b"0123456789" * 100
+    upstream, url = _serve_fake_audio(payload)
+    track_id = None
+    try:
+        track_id = client.post(
+            f"{MEDIA_API}/streams", json={"name": "Range FM", "url": url}
+        ).json()["track"]["id"]
+
+        full = client.get(f"{MEDIA_API}/stream/{track_id}")
+        assert full.status_code == 200
+        assert full.content == payload
+
+        ranged = client.get(
+            f"{MEDIA_API}/stream/{track_id}", headers={"Range": "bytes=100-199"}
+        )
+        assert ranged.status_code == 206
+        assert ranged.content == payload[100:200]
+        assert ranged.headers["content-range"] == f"bytes 100-199/{len(payload)}"
+    finally:
+        upstream.shutdown()
+        if track_id:
+            try:
+                client.delete(f"{MEDIA_API}/tracks/{track_id}")
+            except httpx.HTTPError:
+                pass
+
+
+def test_media_files_static_range_support(client):
+    """Downloaded tracks are nginx static files with native Range support."""
+    import pathlib
+
+    marker = uuid.uuid4().hex[:8]
+    host_media = pathlib.Path(__file__).parents[1] / "media" / "files"
+    host_media.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    fname = f"test-{marker}.mp3"
+    payload = b"IMHEADDATA" + b"\x01" * 2048
+    (host_media / fname).write_bytes(payload)
+    try:
+        full = client.get(f"/media/files/{fname}")
+        assert full.status_code == 200
+        assert full.content == payload
+
+        ranged = client.get(f"/media/files/{fname}", headers={"Range": "bytes=0-9"})
+        assert ranged.status_code == 206
+        assert ranged.content == b"IMHEADDATA"
+    finally:
+        (host_media / fname).unlink(missing_ok=True)
+
+
+def test_media_library_persists_in_volume(client):
+    """The library JSON is written to the ./media bind mount (permanent)."""
+    import pathlib
+
+    upstream, url = _serve_fake_audio(b"\x00" * 16)
+    track_id = None
+    try:
+        track_id = client.post(
+            f"{MEDIA_API}/streams", json={"name": "Persist FM", "url": url}
+        ).json()["track"]["id"]
+        library_file = pathlib.Path(__file__).parents[1] / "media" / "library.json"
+        data = json.loads(library_file.read_text())
+        assert track_id in data["tracks"]
+    finally:
+        upstream.shutdown()
+        if track_id:
+            try:
+                client.delete(f"{MEDIA_API}/tracks/{track_id}")
+            except httpx.HTTPError:
+                pass
+
+
+# ── web player UI ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def test_ui_media_panel_serves(client):
+    resp = client.get("/")
+    body = resp.text
+    assert 'id="mediaBtn"' in body
+    assert 'id="mediaPanel"' in body
+    assert 'id="playPauseBtn"' in body
+    assert 'id="seekBar"' in body
+    assert 'id="mediaAudio"' in body
+
+
+def test_ui_media_logic_serves(client):
+    resp = client.get("/app.js")
+    body = resp.text
+    assert "reconcileMedia" in body
+    assert "media-control" in body          # data-channel topic for the agent
+    assert "media_state" in body            # playback state reports
+    assert "/media/api/state" in body       # reconciliation polling
+
+
+def test_ui_media_styles_serve(client):
+    resp = client.get("/style.css")
+    assert ".media-panel" in resp.text
+    assert ".media-row" in resp.text
+
+
+def test_token_response_includes_room():
+    resp = httpx.post(TOKEN_URL, json={}, timeout=10)
+    assert resp.status_code == 200
+    assert resp.json()["room"].startswith("voice-")
+
+
+# ── Hope's media MCP toolset ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+MEDIA_MCP_ENV = {
+    "MEDIA_SERVER_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:8092",
+    "MEDIA_ROOM": "mcp-test-room",
+}
+
+
+def test_mcp_media_list_library(mcp_client_factory):
+    text, is_error = mcp_client_factory(
+        "media_mcp.py", "list_library", {}, env=MEDIA_MCP_ENV
+    )
+    assert not is_error
+    assert "library" in text.lower()
+
+
+def test_mcp_media_add_stream_and_now_playing(mcp_client_factory, client):
+    upstream, url = _serve_fake_audio(b"\x00" * 16)
+    try:
+        text, is_error = mcp_client_factory(
+            "media_mcp.py", "add_stream",
+            {"name": "MCP Test Radio", "url": url}, env=MEDIA_MCP_ENV,
+        )
+        assert not is_error, text
+        assert "Added" in text
+
+        library = client.get(f"{MEDIA_API}/library").json()["tracks"]
+        probe = next(t for t in library if t["title"] == "MCP Test Radio")
+        try:
+            text, is_error = mcp_client_factory(
+                "media_mcp.py", "now_playing", {}, env=MEDIA_MCP_ENV
+            )
+            assert not is_error
+            # Nothing loaded in mcp-test-room: the tool must say so plainly.
+            assert "Nothing is loaded" in text
+
+            client.post(
+                f"{MEDIA_API}/play", json={"room": "mcp-test-room", "track_id": probe["id"]}
+            )
+            text, is_error = mcp_client_factory(
+                "media_mcp.py", "now_playing", {}, env=MEDIA_MCP_ENV
+            )
+            assert not is_error
+            assert "MCP Test Radio" in text
+        finally:
+            client.delete(f"{MEDIA_API}/tracks/{probe['id']}")
+    finally:
+        upstream.shutdown()
+
+
+def test_mcp_media_resume_without_load(mcp_client_factory, client):
+    """Errors from the media server reach the LLM as tool text (not MCP
+    errors) so Hope can explain them naturally."""
+    client.post(
+        f"{MEDIA_API}/control", json={"room": "mcp-empty-room", "action": "stop"}
+    )
+    text, is_error = mcp_client_factory(
+        "media_mcp.py", "resume_music", {}, env={
+            "MEDIA_SERVER_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:8092",
+            "MEDIA_ROOM": "mcp-empty-room",
+        }
+    )
+    assert not is_error
+    assert "nothing loaded" in text.lower()
+
+
+# ── live YouTube Music (network-dependent) ──────────────────────────────────
+
+@pytest.mark.slow
+def test_media_search_live(client):
+    resp = client.post(
+        f"{MEDIA_API}/search",
+        json={"query": "blind guardian timeless miracle", "limit": 3},
+    )
+    assert resp.status_code == 200
+    results = resp.json()["results"]
+    assert len(results) >= 1
+    for r in results:
+        assert r["video_id"]
+        assert r["title"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.slow
+def test_media_download_and_stream_end_to_end(client):
+    """Full pipeline: search -> play -> yt-dlp download + ffmpeg transcode ->
+    static mp3 with Range support in the player. Gated: run with
+    HOPE_RUN_YTDLP_DOWNLOAD=1 (takes 1-3 minutes)."""
+    if os.environ.get("HOPE_RUN_YTDLP_DOWNLOAD") != "1":
+        pytest.skip("set HOPE_RUN_YTDLP_DOWNLOAD=1 to run the real download")
+
+    search = client.post(
+        f"{MEDIA_API}/search", json={"query": "kingdom hearts dearly beloved", "limit": 3}
+    )
+    results = search.json()["results"]
+    assert results, "search returned nothing"
+    video = results[0]
+
+    played = client.post(
+        f"{MEDIA_API}/play",
+        json={"room": TEST_ROOM, "video_id": video["video_id"],
+              "title": video["title"], "channel": video["channel"]},
+    ).json()
+    track_id = played["track"]["id"]
+
+    try:
+        deadline = time.time() + 240
+        track = played["track"]
+        while time.time() < deadline:
+            library = client.get(f"{MEDIA_API}/library").json()["tracks"]
+            track = next(t for t in library if t["id"] == track_id)
+            if track["status"] in ("ready", "failed"):
+                break
+            time.sleep(3)
+        assert track["status"] == "ready", f"download failed: {track.get('error')}"
+
+        stream = client.get(track["audio_url"], headers={"Range": "bytes=0-1023"})
+        assert stream.status_code in (200, 206)
+        assert len(stream.content) >= 1
+    finally:
+        client.delete(f"{MEDIA_API}/tracks/{track_id}")
diff --git a/web/app.js b/web/app.js
index 591f016..fe20474 100644
--- a/web/app.js
+++ b/web/app.js
@@ -1263,7 +1263,13 @@ function clearMediaAudio() {
 
 function updateMediaNowCard(track) {
     mediaTitleEl.textContent = track.title || track.id;
-    mediaChannelEl.textContent = track.channel || (track.kind === "stream" ? "Live stream" : "");
+    if (track.status === "failed") {
+        mediaChannelEl.textContent = "Download failed — pick another result or try again.";
+    } else if (track.status === "downloading") {
+        mediaChannelEl.textContent = "Preparing…";
+    } else {
+        mediaChannelEl.textContent = track.channel || (track.kind === "stream" ? "Live stream" : "");
+    }
     if (track.art_url) {
         mediaArt.src = track.art_url;
         mediaArt.hidden = false;
@@ -1403,7 +1409,9 @@ mediaAudio.addEventListener("timeupdate", () => {
 });
 mediaAudio.addEventListener("durationchange", updateSeekUI);
 mediaAudio.addEventListener("error", () => {
-    if (mediaCurrentTrackId) {
+    // An empty src (track still downloading) also fires this — only surface
+    // real playback failures.
+    if (mediaCurrentTrackId && mediaAudio.getAttribute("src")) {
         mediaChannelEl.textContent = "Playback error — the track may still be preparing.";
     }
 });
diff --git a/web/media_server.py b/web/media_server.py
index b2ba8c0..391a2a0 100644
--- a/web/media_server.py
+++ b/web/media_server.py
@@ -63,6 +63,12 @@ _executor = ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=1, thread_name_prefix="media-dl")
 
 for _d in (FILES_DIR, THUMBS_DIR, JOBS_DIR):
     _d.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    # The bind mount may be inspected/cleaned from the host by a non-root
+    # user (Unraid share convention) — keep the dirs world-traversable.
+    try:
+        os.chmod(_d, 0o777)
+    except OSError:
+        pass
 
 
 # ── Library store ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -263,6 +269,7 @@ def _download_worker(job: dict, track: dict, video_id: str) -> None:
         for line in proc.stdout:
             if time.monotonic() > deadline:
                 proc.kill()
+                proc.wait(timeout=30)
                 raise RuntimeError(f"Download exceeded {DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT}s")
             line = line.strip()
             m = _PROGRESS_RE.search(line)
@@ -385,7 +392,10 @@ async def search(request: Request) -> dict:
     query = str(body.get("query", "")).strip()
     if not query:
         raise HTTPException(400, "query is required")
-    limit = max(1, min(int(body.get("limit", 6)), 15))
+    try:
+        limit = max(1, min(int(body.get("limit", 6)), 15))
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        raise HTTPException(400, "limit must be an integer")
     return {"query": query, "results": _run_search(query, limit)}
 
 
@@ -479,10 +489,11 @@ async def control(request: Request) -> dict:
         elif action == "stop":
             st["desired"] = "stopped"
         elif action == "seek":
-            st["seek_hint"] = {
-                "position": max(0.0, float(body.get("position", 0))),
-                "ts": time.time(),
-            }
+            try:
+                position = max(0.0, float(body.get("position", 0)))
+            except (TypeError, ValueError):
+                raise HTTPException(400, "position must be a number")
+            st["seek_hint"] = {"position": position, "ts": time.time()}
         elif action == "skip":
             current = st["track_id"]
             candidates = sorted(
@@ -574,7 +585,7 @@ async def stream_proxy(track_id: str, request: Request):
         raise HTTPException(409, f"track is {track.get('status')}, not ready")
 
     range_header = request.headers.get("range")
-    headers = {"Range": range_header} if range_header else {"Range": "bytes=0-"}
+    headers = {"Range": range_header} if range_header else {}
     client = httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=httpx.Timeout(30, read=600), follow_redirects=True)
     try:
         upstream = await client.send(client.build_request("GET", track["url"], headers=headers), stream=True)