diff --git a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/novasonic/app/api/LrcLibClient.kt b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/novasonic/app/api/LrcLibClient.kt
index c0c6424..88399a6 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/novasonic/app/api/LrcLibClient.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/novasonic/app/api/LrcLibClient.kt
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ import io.ktor.http.*
 import io.ktor.serialization.kotlinx.json.*
 import kotlinx.coroutines.async
 import kotlinx.coroutines.coroutineScope
+import kotlinx.coroutines.sync.Mutex
+import kotlinx.coroutines.sync.withLock
 import kotlinx.serialization.Serializable
 import kotlinx.serialization.json.Json
 
@@ -55,9 +57,13 @@ object LrcLibClient {
             connectTimeoutMillis = 5_000
             socketTimeoutMillis  = 8_000
         }
+        // lrclib asks clients to identify themselves; a proper UA also avoids being throttled.
+        install(UserAgent) { agent = "NovaSonic/1.0 (+https://gitea.honeyy.duckdns.org/Docker/NovaSonic)" }
     }
 
     private val cache = HashMap<String, LrcLibResponse?>()
+    // Per-song lock so a prefetch + an on-open load don't both fire the whole cascade (→ throttling).
+    private val locks = java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap<String, Mutex>()
 
     suspend fun getLyrics(
         artist: String,
@@ -67,6 +73,18 @@ object LrcLibClient {
     ): LrcLibResponse? {
         val cacheKey = "$artist|$title"
         if (cache.containsKey(cacheKey)) return cache[cacheKey]
+        val mutex = locks.getOrPut(cacheKey) { Mutex() }
+        return mutex.withLock { getLyricsInner(artist, title, album, durationSecs, cacheKey) }
+    }
+
+    private suspend fun getLyricsInner(
+        artist: String,
+        title: String,
+        album: String?,
+        durationSecs: Int?,
+        cacheKey: String,
+    ): LrcLibResponse? {
+        if (cache.containsKey(cacheKey)) return cache[cacheKey]   // populated while we waited on the lock
 
         // 1a. lrclib exact match with duration
         val exact = runCatching {
diff --git a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/novasonic/app/player/PlayerController.kt b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/novasonic/app/player/PlayerController.kt
index fe51a42..54c3ef1 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/novasonic/app/player/PlayerController.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/novasonic/app/player/PlayerController.kt
@@ -280,9 +280,13 @@ class PlayerController(private val context: Context, private val repo: MusicRepo
         )
     }
 
-    /** Warm the LrcLib cache as soon as a track starts, so opening Lyrics feels instant. */
+    private var _lyricsPrefetchJob: Job? = null
+    /** Warm the LrcLib cache shortly after a track settles. Debounced so rapid skips don't
+     *  hammer lrclib (which throttles the IP and then no lyrics load at all). */
     private fun prefetchLyrics(song: Song) {
-        scope.launch {
+        _lyricsPrefetchJob?.cancel()
+        _lyricsPrefetchJob = scope.launch {
+            delay(1500)   // skip quickly without firing a request per track
             runCatching {
                 LrcLibClient.getLyrics(
                     artist       = song.artist ?: "",
diff --git a/src/player/nowplaying.js b/src/player/nowplaying.js
index 0e2ee2a..e1e4a86 100644
--- a/src/player/nowplaying.js
+++ b/src/player/nowplaying.js
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ let _lyricsSongId = null;
 let _lyricsLoadToken = 0;
 let _prefetchTimer = null;
 const _lyricsCache = new Map(); // "artist|title" → result object (null = not found)
+const _lyricsInflight = new Map(); // "artist|title" → Promise — de-dupe concurrent fetches
 
 const LYRICS_LOOKAHEAD_MS = 200;
 
@@ -176,8 +177,16 @@ async function _loadNpLyrics(songId) {
 async function _fetchLyricsData(artist, title, album, dur) {
   const cacheKey = `${artist}|${title}`;
   if(_lyricsCache.has(cacheKey)) return _lyricsCache.get(cacheKey);
+  // De-dupe concurrent fetches for the same song (prefetch + tab-open) so we don't fire the
+  // whole lrclib cascade twice — that doubles the request rate and gets the IP throttled.
+  if(_lyricsInflight.has(cacheKey)) return _lyricsInflight.get(cacheKey);
+  const p = _doFetchLyrics(artist, title, album, dur, cacheKey);
+  _lyricsInflight.set(cacheKey, p);
+  try { return await p; } finally { _lyricsInflight.delete(cacheKey); }
+}
 
-  const SIG = () => AbortSignal.timeout(6000);
+async function _doFetchLyrics(artist, title, album, dur, cacheKey) {
+  const SIG = () => AbortSignal.timeout(8000);
   const safeJson = async (promise) => { try { const r = await promise; return r.ok ? r.json() : null; } catch { return null; } };
   const bestMatch = (candidates, durSecs) => {
     if(!candidates?.length) return null;