playerctl

MPRIS is an under-appreciated standard and a great example of how different technologies on the open desktop should integrate with one another. For example, there's <https://github.com/altdesktop/playerctl>, which can control any MPRIS-compatible client: VLC, web browsers, different music players, mpd (with a plugin), etc. MPRIS can also be used to e.g. allow controlling playback without unlocking the screen - the screen locker itself doesn't need elaborate support, something as simple as slock could be hacked to recognise a key combo and call out to playerctl; more fancy login managers/lockers could talk DBUS/MPRIS directly and even e.g. display album artwork. Unfortunately, the standard doesn't seem to specify a simple way to indicate whether video is being played back, which could be a saner way to inform the screen locker; the actual

Sounds like you might be interested in playerctl [0]. I use global shortcuts for its play, pause, next, and previous actions. It has the ability to control Spotify, Firefox and other players. And Firefox media controls work for YouTube, SoundCloud, and even the site this post is about. 0: https://github.com/altdesktop/playerctl