diff --git a/backend/novasonic-server.js b/backend/novasonic-server.js
index e19cf24..5b42721 100644
--- a/backend/novasonic-server.js
+++ b/backend/novasonic-server.js
@@ -483,6 +483,48 @@ function _spTrackItem(t, defaultAlbum, defaultArt, defaultAlbumArtist) {
   };
 }
 
+// ─── ITUNES PROXY ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// Browser origin is blocked by Apple (403). All iTunes/Apple RSS calls go through here.
+
+async function itunesProxy(url) {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    https.get(url, { headers: { 'User-Agent': 'iTunes/12.0' } }, res => {
+      let d = '';
+      res.on('data', c => d += c);
+      res.on('end', () => { try { resolve(JSON.parse(d)); } catch { resolve({}); } });
+    }).on('error', reject);
+  });
+}
+
+app.get('/api/itunes/search', async (req, res) => {
+  try {
+    const { term, entity = 'musicTrack', limit = 25, country = 'us' } = req.query;
+    if (!term) return res.json({ results: [] });
+    const url = `https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=${encodeURIComponent(term)}&media=music&entity=${entity}&limit=${limit}&country=${country}&explicit=Yes`;
+    const d = await itunesProxy(url);
+    res.json({ results: d.results || [] });
+  } catch { res.json({ results: [] }); }
+});
+
+app.get('/api/itunes/lookup', async (req, res) => {
+  try {
+    const { id, entity = 'song', limit = 200, country = 'us' } = req.query;
+    if (!id) return res.json({ results: [] });
+    const url = `https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=${id}&entity=${entity}&limit=${limit}&country=${country}&explicit=Yes`;
+    const d = await itunesProxy(url);
+    res.json({ results: d.results || [] });
+  } catch { res.json({ results: [] }); }
+});
+
+app.get('/api/itunes/charts', async (req, res) => {
+  try {
+    const { type = 'albums', country = 'de' } = req.query;
+    const url = `https://rss.applemarketingtools.com/api/v2/${country}/music/most-played/50/${type}.json`;
+    const d = await itunesProxy(url);
+    res.json(d.feed ? { results: d.feed.results || [] } : { results: [] });
+  } catch { res.json({ results: [] }); }
+});
+
 // ─── ROUTES ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 app.post('/api/spotify/track-artwork', async (req, res) => {
diff --git a/src/api.js b/src/api.js
index 33c9024..58c1f37 100644
--- a/src/api.js
+++ b/src/api.js
@@ -39,76 +39,49 @@ export async function ndAuth() {
   return S._ndToken;
 }
 
-// ─── ITUNES ───
-const ITUNES = 'https://itunes.apple.com';
+// ─── ITUNES (proxied through backend to avoid Apple's browser origin block) ───
+function _iBase() { return S.cfg.backendUrl || ''; }
+
+async function _iGet(path) {
+  try {
+    const r = await fetch(_iBase() + path);
+    if (!r.ok) return {};
+    return await r.json();
+  } catch { return {}; }
+}
 
 export async function itunesSearch(query, entity='musicTrack', limit=25) {
-  try {
-    const r = await fetch(`${ITUNES}/search?term=${encodeURIComponent(query)}&media=music&entity=${entity}&limit=${limit}&country=us&explicit=Yes`);
-    const text = await r.text();
-    if (!text) return [];
-    return JSON.parse(text).results || [];
-  } catch { return []; }
+  const d = await _iGet(`/api/itunes/search?term=${encodeURIComponent(query)}&entity=${entity}&limit=${limit}`);
+  return d.results || [];
 }
 
 export async function itunesLookupAlbum(collectionId) {
-  const r = await fetch(`${ITUNES}/lookup?id=${collectionId}&entity=song&explicit=Yes`);
-  const d = await r.json();
+  const d = await _iGet(`/api/itunes/lookup?id=${collectionId}&entity=song`);
   return (d.results || []).filter(x => x.wrapperType === 'track');
 }
 
-// Returns actual explicit tracks for an artist via lookup (search endpoint only returns cleaned versions)
 export async function itunesLookupArtistSongs(artistId, limit=15) {
-  const r = await fetch(`${ITUNES}/lookup?id=${artistId}&entity=song&limit=${limit}&country=us&explicit=Yes`);
-  const d = await r.json();
+  const d = await _iGet(`/api/itunes/lookup?id=${artistId}&entity=song&limit=${limit}`);
   return (d.results || []).filter(x => x.wrapperType === 'track');
 }
 
 export async function itunesLookupArtistAlbums(artistId, limit=200) {
-  const r = await fetch(`${ITUNES}/lookup?id=${artistId}&entity=album&limit=${limit}&country=us`);
-  const d = await r.json();
+  const d = await _iGet(`/api/itunes/lookup?id=${artistId}&entity=album&limit=${limit}`);
   return (d.results || []).filter(x => x.wrapperType === 'collection' && x.collectionType === 'Album');
 }
 
 export async function itunesTopCharts() {
-  const urls = [
-    'https://rss.applemarketingtools.com/api/v2/de/music/most-played/50/albums.json',
-    'https://rss.applemarketingtools.com/api/v2/us/music/most-played/50/albums.json',
-  ];
-  for(const url of urls) {
-    try {
-      const r = await fetch(url, { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(6000) });
-      if(!r.ok) continue;
-      const d = await r.json();
-      if(d.feed?.results?.length) return d.feed.results;
-    } catch {}
+  for (const country of ['de', 'us']) {
+    const d = await _iGet(`/api/itunes/charts?type=albums&country=${country}`);
+    if (d.results?.length) return d.results;
   }
-  try {
-    const r = await fetch('https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=new+music&media=music&entity=album&limit=50&country=de');
-    const d = await r.json();
-    return (d.results||[]).map(a => ({
-      name: a.collectionName, artistName: a.artistName,
-      artworkUrl: a.artworkUrl100?.replace('100x100','300x300'), artworkUrl100: a.artworkUrl100,
-    }));
-  } catch { return []; }
+  return [];
 }
 
 export async function itunesTopSongs() {
-  const urls = [
-    'https://rss.applemarketingtools.com/api/v2/de/music/most-played/50/songs.json',
-    'https://rss.applemarketingtools.com/api/v2/us/music/most-played/50/songs.json',
-  ];
-  for(const url of urls) {
-    try {
-      const r = await fetch(url, { signal: AbortSignal.timeout(6000) });
-      if(!r.ok) continue;
-      const d = await r.json();
-      if(d.feed?.results?.length) return d.feed.results;
-    } catch {}
+  for (const country of ['de', 'us']) {
+    const d = await _iGet(`/api/itunes/charts?type=songs&country=${country}`);
+    if (d.results?.length) return d.results;
   }
-  try {
-    const r = await fetch('https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=top+hits&media=music&entity=musicTrack&limit=50&country=de');
-    const d = await r.json();
-    return (d.results||[]).map(t => ({ name: t.trackName, artistName: t.artistName, artworkUrl: t.artworkUrl100 }));
-  } catch { return []; }
+  return [];
 }