diff --git a/utils/playback/playbackController.ts b/utils/playback/playbackController.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..776d3ae04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/playback/playbackController.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/**
+ * The canonical playback-control surface. Every player (cast, native video,
+ * music) implements this interface and registers itself as the active
+ * controller while it is playing, so remote-control commands can be routed to
+ * whatever is currently playing.
+ */
+
+import { atom, useSetAtom } from "jotai";
+import { useEffect } from "react";
+
+export interface PlaybackController {
+  playPause(): void;
+  pause(): void;
+  unpause(): void;
+  stop(): void;
+  /** Absolute seek position in milliseconds. */
+  seek(positionMs: number): void;
+  next(): void;
+  previous(): void;
+  /** Volume 0-1. */
+  setVolume(level: number): void;
+  toggleMute(): void;
+}
+
+/** The currently-active playback controller, or null when nothing is playing. */
+export const activePlaybackControllerAtom = atom<PlaybackController | null>(
+  null,
+);
+
+/**
+ * Register `controller` as the active playback controller while `active` is
+ * true. Clears the atom on unmount or when `active` becomes false — but only if
+ * the atom still holds this exact controller (so a newer registration wins).
+ */
+export const useRegisterPlaybackController = (
+  controller: PlaybackController | null,
+  active: boolean,
+): void => {
+  const setController = useSetAtom(activePlaybackControllerAtom);
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!active || !controller) return;
+    setController(controller);
+    return () => {
+      setController((current) => (current === controller ? null : current));
+    };
+  }, [active, controller, setController]);
+};