diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/MinstrelPlayerService.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/MinstrelPlayerService.kt
index 7458a730..59741113 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/MinstrelPlayerService.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/MinstrelPlayerService.kt
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ class MinstrelPlayerService : MediaSessionService() {
         val session = MediaSession.Builder(this, player)
             .setSessionActivity(buildNowPlayingPendingIntent())
             .setCallback(callback)
+            .setBitmapLoader(playerFactory.buildBitmapLoader())
             .setMediaButtonPreferences(ImmutableList.of(buildLikeButton(isLiked = false)))
             .build()
         mediaSession = session
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerController.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerController.kt
index 0305255b..e0f49216 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerController.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerController.kt
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import android.os.Bundle
 import android.os.Handler
 import android.os.Looper
 import android.os.SystemClock
+import androidx.core.net.toUri
 import androidx.media3.common.MediaItem
 import androidx.media3.common.MediaMetadata
 import androidx.media3.common.Player
@@ -671,6 +672,18 @@ class PlayerController @Inject constructor(
                 // paused under UPnP (it never probes a duration in that state).
                 if (durationSec > 0) setDurationMs(durationSec.toLong() * MS_PER_SECOND)
                 if (source != null) setExtras(sourceExtras(source))
+                // Point the notification / lock-screen art at the SAME album
+                // cover the in-app surfaces use (TrackRef.coverUrl ->
+                // /api/albums/{id}/cover). Without this, Media3 falls back to
+                // whatever art is embedded in the stream's tags, which can be a
+                // different image than the server's album cover. Setting
+                // artworkUri here is load-bearing: MediaMetadata.populate()
+                // overwrites artworkUri + artworkData as a pair, so the
+                // MediaItem's URI clears any embedded artworkData ExoPlayer
+                // extracts from the stream -- the cover endpoint wins on both
+                // surfaces. The session's OkHttp-backed BitmapLoader (see
+                // PlayerFactory) is what makes this authed placeholder URL load.
+                if (coverUrl.isNotEmpty()) setArtworkUri(coverUrl.toUri())
             }
             .build()
         // Server's stream_url is a relative path (/api/tracks/{id}/stream);
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerFactory.kt b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerFactory.kt
index 91176bb6..f3af0185 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerFactory.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/minstrel/player/PlayerFactory.kt
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ import android.content.Context
 import androidx.media3.common.AudioAttributes
 import androidx.media3.common.C
 import androidx.media3.common.Player
+import androidx.media3.common.util.BitmapLoader
 import androidx.media3.database.StandaloneDatabaseProvider
+import androidx.media3.datasource.DataSourceBitmapLoader
 import androidx.media3.datasource.cache.CacheDataSink
 import androidx.media3.datasource.cache.CacheDataSource
 import androidx.media3.datasource.cache.LeastRecentlyUsedCacheEvictor
@@ -12,6 +14,7 @@ import androidx.media3.datasource.cache.SimpleCache
 import androidx.media3.datasource.okhttp.OkHttpDataSource
 import androidx.media3.exoplayer.ExoPlayer
 import androidx.media3.exoplayer.source.DefaultMediaSourceFactory
+import androidx.media3.session.CacheBitmapLoader
 import com.fabledsword.minstrel.cache.audiocache.CacheConfig
 import com.fabledsword.minstrel.player.output.ActiveUpnpHolder
 import dagger.hilt.android.qualifiers.ApplicationContext
@@ -113,6 +116,24 @@ class PlayerFactory @Inject constructor(
             .build()
     }
 
+    /**
+     * BitmapLoader for the MediaSession's notification / lock-screen art.
+     * Backed by the shared [okHttpClient] so it inherits the same
+     * BaseUrlInterceptor placeholder rewrite + auth cookie that Coil uses
+     * for in-app covers — without it the default DefaultHttpDataSource
+     * loader can't resolve `http://placeholder.invalid/...` and would 401
+     * on the cover endpoint. Wrapped in CacheBitmapLoader so a cover the
+     * notification already fetched isn't re-loaded on every metadata
+     * refresh. Lets the album-cover artworkUri set in
+     * [PlayerController.toMediaItem] actually render on the media card.
+     */
+    fun buildBitmapLoader(): BitmapLoader =
+        CacheBitmapLoader(
+            DataSourceBitmapLoader.Builder(context)
+                .setDataSourceFactory(OkHttpDataSource.Factory(okHttpClient))
+                .build(),
+        )
+
     private fun emitDrop(routeName: String) {
         dropEventsInternal.tryEmit(routeName)
     }