diff --git a/media_server/static/css/styles.css b/media_server/static/css/styles.css
index f010c1b..ccf91aa 100644
--- a/media_server/static/css/styles.css
+++ b/media_server/static/css/styles.css
@@ -4432,6 +4432,12 @@ header .brand-sub {
     align-items: center;
     justify-content: center;
     overflow: visible;
+    /* Kill the legacy albumArt3D rotateY/rotateX wobble inherited from
+       .album-art-container — the vinyl stage is a flat composition
+       and should not tilt. */
+    animation: none;
+    transform: none;
+    transform-style: flat;
 }
 
 .album-art-container.vinyl-stage:hover { transform: none; }
@@ -4612,14 +4618,27 @@ body.visualizer-active .vinyl-stage .spectrogram-canvas {
     filter: blur(40px) saturate(1.8);
 }
 
-/* Stage gets a warm ambient gradient (matches mockup) */
+/* Honour reduced-motion: kill breathing pulse */
+@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
+    .vinyl-stage .sleeve #album-art {
+        animation: none !important;
+    }
+}
+
+/* Stage halo: soft radial bloom that fades to transparent — same
+   treatment as the fullscreen player so the stage never reads as a
+   rectangular card pasted into the page. */
 .album-art-container.vinyl-stage {
     background:
-        radial-gradient(ellipse at center, #1a1611 0%, var(--bg-deep) 80%);
+        radial-gradient(ellipse at center,
+            rgba(26, 22, 17, 0.85) 0%,
+            transparent 70%);
 }
 :root[data-theme="light"] .album-art-container.vinyl-stage {
     background:
-        radial-gradient(ellipse at center, var(--bg-card-2) 0%, var(--bg-deep) 80%);
+        radial-gradient(ellipse at center,
+            rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.55) 0%,
+            transparent 75%);
 }
 
 /* Sleeve: cardstock card with album cover printed on its face.
@@ -4632,17 +4651,15 @@ body.visualizer-active .vinyl-stage .spectrogram-canvas {
     width: 63%;
     aspect-ratio: 1;
     z-index: 3;
-    background: var(--bg-card-2);
+    background: transparent;
     box-shadow:
-        inset 4px 4px 24px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.35),
         -2px 8px 24px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5),
         -4px 18px 44px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.35);
     overflow: hidden;
 }
 :root[data-theme="light"] .vinyl-stage .sleeve {
-    background: var(--bg-card);
+    background: transparent;
     box-shadow:
-        inset 4px 4px 18px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.10),
         -2px 8px 22px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.20),
         -4px 18px 36px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.12);
 }
@@ -4655,22 +4672,31 @@ body.visualizer-active .vinyl-stage .spectrogram-canvas {
    size, blowing out the grid track. */
 .vinyl-stage .sleeve #album-art {
     position: absolute;
-    top: 5%;
-    left: 5%;
-    width: 90%;
-    height: 90%;
+    top: 0;
+    left: 0;
+    width: 100%;
+    height: 100%;
     object-fit: cover;
     border-radius: 0;
     z-index: 1;
-    box-shadow:
-        inset 0 0 18px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.35),
-        0 2px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.35);
+    box-shadow: none;
     margin: 0;
-    background: var(--bg-card);
+    background: transparent;
     filter: contrast(0.96) saturate(0.92);
     transition: filter 0.6s ease;
 }
 
+/* Crossfade on artwork swap. Class toggled by player.js right before
+   src assignment so the new cover fades in instead of popping. */
+.vinyl-stage .sleeve #album-art.is-swapping {
+    animation: sr-art-swap 650ms cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.7, 0.2, 1);
+}
+
+@keyframes sr-art-swap {
+    0%   { opacity: 0; }
+    100% { opacity: 1; }
+}
+
 /* Cardstock paper grain over the print — multiplies into the image */
 .vinyl-stage .sleeve-grain {
     position: absolute;
@@ -4683,17 +4709,11 @@ body.visualizer-active .vinyl-stage .spectrogram-canvas {
 }
 :root[data-theme="light"] .vinyl-stage .sleeve-grain { opacity: 0.32; }
 
-/* Worn corner notch — tiny triangular wear on bottom-right */
+/* Worn corner notch — hidden now that the cardstock sleeve is
+   transparent; the wedge would otherwise read as a stray dark
+   triangle clipped over the album art. */
 .vinyl-stage .sleeve-corner {
-    position: absolute;
-    width: 13%;
-    height: 13%;
-    bottom: -1px;
-    right: -1px;
-    background: var(--bg-deep);
-    clip-path: polygon(100% 0, 100% 100%, 0 100%);
-    opacity: 0.6;
-    z-index: 4;
+    display: none;
 }
 
 /* Disc wrap — sits behind the sleeve, peeks out the right edge */
diff --git a/media_server/static/index.html b/media_server/static/index.html
index 05601c4..9a76aff 100644
--- a/media_server/static/index.html
+++ b/media_server/static/index.html
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@
                 <div class="vinyl-stage album-art-container">
                     <img id="album-art-glow" class="album-art-glow" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 300 300'%3E%3Crect fill='%23282828' width='300' height='300'/%3E%3C/svg%3E" alt="" aria-hidden="true">
                     <div class="sleeve">
-                        <img id="album-art" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 300 300'%3E%3Crect fill='%23282828' width='300' height='300'/%3E%3Cpath fill='%236a6a6a' d='M150 80c-38.66 0-70 31.34-70 70s31.34 70 70 70 70-31.34 70-70-31.34-70-70-70zm0 20c27.614 0 50 22.386 50 50s-22.386 50-50 50-50-22.386-50-50 22.386-50 50-50zm0 30a20 20 0 100 40 20 20 0 000-40z'/%3E%3C/svg%3E" alt="Album Art">
+                        <img id="album-art" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 300 300'%3E%3Cpath fill='%236a6a6a' opacity='0.35' d='M150 80c-38.66 0-70 31.34-70 70s31.34 70 70 70 70-31.34 70-70-31.34-70-70-70zm0 20c27.614 0 50 22.386 50 50s-22.386 50-50 50-50-22.386-50-50 22.386-50 50-50zm0 30a20 20 0 100 40 20 20 0 000-40z'/%3E%3C/svg%3E" alt="Album Art">
                         <div class="sleeve-grain" aria-hidden="true"></div>
                         <div class="sleeve-corner" aria-hidden="true"></div>
                     </div>
diff --git a/media_server/static/js/player.js b/media_server/static/js/player.js
index 101a6f3..b451057 100644
--- a/media_server/static/js/player.js
+++ b/media_server/static/js/player.js
@@ -613,6 +613,18 @@ export function setupProgressDrag(bar, fill) {
     });
 }
 
+// Replace the album-art src and replay the .is-swapping CSS animation
+// so the new artwork crossfades in instead of popping. Re-toggling the
+// class across rAF restarts the keyframes even if it was already on.
+function swapArtworkSrc(imgEl, newSrc) {
+    if (!imgEl) return;
+    if (imgEl.src === newSrc) return;
+    imgEl.classList.remove('is-swapping');
+    void imgEl.offsetWidth;
+    imgEl.src = newSrc;
+    imgEl.classList.add('is-swapping');
+}
+
 export function updateUI(status) {
     setLastStatus(status);
 
@@ -639,7 +651,7 @@ export function updateUI(status) {
 
     if (artworkKey !== lastArtworkKey) {
         lastArtworkKey = artworkKey;
-        const placeholderArt = "data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 300 300'%3E%3Crect fill='%23282828' width='300' height='300'/%3E%3Cpath fill='%236a6a6a' d='M150 80c-38.66 0-70 31.34-70 70s31.34 70 70 70 70-31.34 70-70-31.34-70-70-70zm0 20c27.614 0 50 22.386 50 50s-22.386 50-50 50-50-22.386-50-50 22.386-50 50-50zm0 30a20 20 0 100 40 20 20 0 000-40z'/%3E%3C/svg%3E";
+        const placeholderArt = "data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 300 300'%3E%3Cpath fill='%236a6a6a' opacity='0.35' d='M150 80c-38.66 0-70 31.34-70 70s31.34 70 70 70 70-31.34 70-70-31.34-70-70-70zm0 20c27.614 0 50 22.386 50 50s-22.386 50-50 50-50-22.386-50-50 22.386-50 50-50zm0 30a20 20 0 100 40 20 20 0 000-40z'/%3E%3C/svg%3E";
         const placeholderGlow = "data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 300 300'%3E%3Crect fill='%23282828' width='300' height='300'/%3E%3C/svg%3E";
         if (artworkSource) {
             fetch(`/api/media/artwork?_=${Date.now()}`, {
@@ -651,7 +663,7 @@ export function updateUI(status) {
                 const oldBlobUrl = currentArtworkBlobUrl;
                 const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
                 currentArtworkBlobUrl = url;
-                dom.albumArt.src = url;
+                swapArtworkSrc(dom.albumArt, url);
                 dom.miniAlbumArt.src = url;
                 if (dom.albumArtGlow) dom.albumArtGlow.src = url;
                 if (oldBlobUrl) setTimeout(() => URL.revokeObjectURL(oldBlobUrl), 1000);
@@ -662,7 +674,7 @@ export function updateUI(status) {
                 URL.revokeObjectURL(currentArtworkBlobUrl);
                 currentArtworkBlobUrl = null;
             }
-            dom.albumArt.src = placeholderArt;
+            swapArtworkSrc(dom.albumArt, placeholderArt);
             dom.miniAlbumArt.src = placeholderArt;
             if (dom.albumArtGlow) dom.albumArtGlow.src = placeholderGlow;
         }