diff --git a/assets/js/hooks/audio_player.js b/assets/js/hooks/audio_player.js
index fe5b0bb5..677d0edb 100644
--- a/assets/js/hooks/audio_player.js
+++ b/assets/js/hooks/audio_player.js
@@ -132,13 +132,11 @@ AudioPlayer = {
   },
   handlePlayableState(e) {
     console.log("TRACE HandlePlayableState", e);
-    const playback = JSON.parse(this?.player?.dataset?.playback);
     // this.initMediaSession(playback);
   },
   // DEPRECATED: the state setting already happens at the point of loading, we don't need to listen to any metadata load event now now.
   handleMetadataLoad(e) {
     console.log("TRACE HandleMetadataLoad", e);
-    const playback = JSON.parse(this?.player?.dataset?.playback);
     // this.initMediaSession(playback);
   },
   handlePlayPause() {
diff --git a/lib/vyasa_web/components/audio_player.ex b/lib/vyasa_web/components/audio_player.ex
index eb3932b9..79166cd1 100644
--- a/lib/vyasa_web/components/audio_player.ex
+++ b/lib/vyasa_web/components/audio_player.ex
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ defmodule VyasaWeb.AudioPlayer do
     # TODO: remove the reliance on the playback prop passed here, it forces a remounting of the node, which is undesirable
     ~H"""
     <div id="audio-player" phx-hook="AudioPlayer">
-      <audio data-playback={Jason.encode!(@playback)}></audio>
+      <audio></audio>
     </div>
     """
   end