diff --git a/src/libtomahawk/audio/AudioEngine.cpp b/src/libtomahawk/audio/AudioEngine.cpp
index 7f4faef75..83ce54f71 100644
--- a/src/libtomahawk/audio/AudioEngine.cpp
+++ b/src/libtomahawk/audio/AudioEngine.cpp
@@ -840,9 +840,11 @@ AudioEngine::loadNextTrack()
 void
 AudioEngine::play( const QUrl& url )
 {
+    Q_D( AudioEngine );
+
     tDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << url;
 
-    const QVariantMap tags = MusicScanner::readTags( QFileInfo( url.toLocalFile() ) ).toMap();
+    const QVariantMap tags = MusicScanner::readTags( QFileInfo( url.toLocalFile() ), d->audioOutput->vlcInstance() ).toMap();
 
     track_ptr t;
     if ( !tags.isEmpty() )
diff --git a/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/MusicScanner.cpp b/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/MusicScanner.cpp
index 6b86ecc2a..7a419a53f 100644
--- a/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/MusicScanner.cpp
+++ b/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/MusicScanner.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@
 
 #include "config.h"
 
+#include <vlc/libvlc.h>
+#include <vlc/libvlc_media.h>
+
 using namespace Tomahawk;
 
 void
@@ -131,7 +134,7 @@ DirListerThreadController::run()
 }
 
 
-MusicScanner::MusicScanner( MusicScanner::ScanMode scanMode, const QStringList& paths, quint32 bs )
+MusicScanner::MusicScanner( MusicScanner::ScanMode scanMode, const QStringList& paths, libvlc_instance_t* pVlcInstance, quint32 bs )
     : QObject()
     , m_scanMode( scanMode )
     , m_paths( paths )
@@ -140,8 +143,11 @@ MusicScanner::MusicScanner( MusicScanner::ScanMode scanMode, const QStringList&
     , m_verbose( false )
     , m_cmdQueue( 0 )
     , m_batchsize( bs )
+    , m_vlcInstance( pVlcInstance )
     , m_dirListerThreadController( 0 )
 {
+    // We keep a strong reference to the libvlc instance here
+    libvlc_retain( m_vlcInstance );
 }
 
 
@@ -157,6 +163,8 @@ MusicScanner::~MusicScanner()
         delete m_dirListerThreadController;
         m_dirListerThreadController = 0;
     }
+
+    libvlc_release( m_vlcInstance );
 }
 
 
@@ -451,7 +459,7 @@ MusicScanner::readTags( const QFileInfo& fi )
 QVariant
 MusicScanner::readFile( const QFileInfo& fi )
 {
-    const QVariant m = readTags( fi );
+    const QVariant m = readTags( fi, m_vlcInstance );
 
     if ( m_scanned )
         if ( m_scanned % 3 == 0 )
diff --git a/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/MusicScanner.h b/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/MusicScanner.h
index cf3e8c085..a896eca7b 100644
--- a/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/MusicScanner.h
+++ b/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/MusicScanner.h
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@
 #include <QTimer>
 #include <QVariantMap>
 
+struct libvlc_instance_t;
+
 // descend dir tree comparing dir mtimes to last known mtime
 // emit signal for any dir with new content, so we can scan it.
 // finally, emit the list of new mtimes we observed.
@@ -103,9 +105,9 @@ public:
     enum ScanMode { DirScan, FileScan };
     enum ScanType { None, Full, Normal, File };
 
-    static QVariant readTags( const QFileInfo& fi );
+    static QVariant readTags( const QFileInfo& fi, libvlc_instance_t* vlcInstance );
 
-    MusicScanner( MusicScanner::ScanMode scanMode, const QStringList& paths, quint32 bs = 0 );
+    MusicScanner( MusicScanner::ScanMode scanMode, const QStringList& paths, libvlc_instance_t* pVlcInstance, quint32 bs = 0 );
     ~MusicScanner();
 
     /**
@@ -163,6 +165,7 @@ private:
     QVariantList m_scannedfiles;
     QVariantList m_filesToDelete;
     quint32 m_batchsize;
+    libvlc_instance_t* m_vlcInstance;
 
     DirListerThreadController* m_dirListerThreadController;
 };
diff --git a/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/ScanManager.cpp b/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/ScanManager.cpp
index c75a2ed7e..d1afaa5ba 100644
--- a/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/ScanManager.cpp
+++ b/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/ScanManager.cpp
@@ -35,11 +35,14 @@
 #include <QTimer>
 #include <QSet>
 
+#include <vlc/libvlc.h>
+
 using namespace Tomahawk;
 
-MusicScannerThreadController::MusicScannerThreadController( QObject* parent )
+MusicScannerThreadController::MusicScannerThreadController( libvlc_instance_t* vlcInstance, QObject* parent )
     : QThread( parent )
     , m_bs( 0 )
+    , m_vlcInstance( vlcInstance )
 {
     tDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO;
 }
@@ -54,7 +57,7 @@ MusicScannerThreadController::~MusicScannerThreadController()
 void
 MusicScannerThreadController::run()
 {
-    m_musicScanner = QPointer< MusicScanner >( new MusicScanner( m_mode, m_paths, m_bs ) );
+    m_musicScanner = QPointer< MusicScanner >( new MusicScanner( m_mode, m_paths, m_vlcInstance, m_bs ) );
     connect( m_musicScanner.data(), SIGNAL( finished() ), parent(), SLOT( scannerFinished() ), Qt::QueuedConnection );
     connect( m_musicScanner.data(), SIGNAL( progress( unsigned int ) ), parent(), SIGNAL( progress( unsigned int ) ), Qt::QueuedConnection );
     QMetaObject::invokeMethod( m_musicScanner.data(), "startScan", Qt::QueuedConnection );
@@ -76,11 +79,12 @@ ScanManager::instance()
 }
 
 
-ScanManager::ScanManager( QObject* parent )
+ScanManager::ScanManager( QObject* parent, libvlc_instance_t* pVlcInstance )
     : QObject( parent )
     , m_musicScannerThreadController( 0 )
     , m_currScannerPaths()
     , m_cachedScannerDirs()
+    , m_vlcInstance( pVlcInstance )
     , m_queuedScanType( MusicScanner::None )
     , m_updateGUI( true )
 {
@@ -201,7 +205,7 @@ ScanManager::runNormalScan( bool manualFull )
     }
 
     m_scanTimer->stop();
-    m_musicScannerThreadController = new MusicScannerThreadController( this );
+    m_musicScannerThreadController = new MusicScannerThreadController( m_vlcInstance, this );
     m_currScanMode = MusicScanner::DirScan;
 
     if ( manualFull )
@@ -248,7 +252,7 @@ ScanManager::runFileScan( const QStringList& paths, bool updateGUI )
     }
 
     m_scanTimer->stop();
-    m_musicScannerThreadController = new MusicScannerThreadController( this );
+    m_musicScannerThreadController = new MusicScannerThreadController( m_vlcInstance, this );
     m_currScanMode = MusicScanner::FileScan;
     m_updateGUI = updateGUI;
 
diff --git a/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/ScanManager.h b/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/ScanManager.h
index 24c60bb18..fd3bf215c 100644
--- a/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/ScanManager.h
+++ b/src/libtomahawk/filemetadata/ScanManager.h
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@
 #include <QSet>
 #include <QThread>
 
+struct libvlc_instance_t;
+
 class QFileSystemWatcher;
 class QTimer;
 
@@ -41,7 +43,7 @@ class MusicScannerThreadController : public QThread
     Q_OBJECT
 
 public:
-    MusicScannerThreadController( QObject* parent );
+    MusicScannerThreadController( libvlc_instance_t* vlcInstance, QObject* parent );
     virtual ~MusicScannerThreadController();
 
     void setScanMode( MusicScanner::ScanMode mode ) { m_mode = mode; }
@@ -53,6 +55,7 @@ private:
     MusicScanner::ScanMode m_mode;
     QStringList m_paths;
     quint32 m_bs;
+    libvlc_instance_t* m_vlcInstance;
 };
 
 
@@ -63,7 +66,7 @@ Q_OBJECT
 public:
     static ScanManager* instance();
 
-    explicit ScanManager( QObject* parent = 0 );
+    explicit ScanManager( QObject* parent, libvlc_instance_t* vlcInstance );
     virtual ~ScanManager();
 
     void init();
@@ -97,6 +100,7 @@ private:
     MusicScannerThreadController* m_musicScannerThreadController;
     QSet< QString > m_currScannerPaths;
     QStringList m_cachedScannerDirs;
+    libvlc_instance_t* m_vlcInstance;
 
     QTimer* m_scanTimer;
     MusicScanner::ScanType m_queuedScanType;
diff --git a/src/tomahawk/TomahawkApp.cpp b/src/tomahawk/TomahawkApp.cpp
index 014701908..f10980a95 100644
--- a/src/tomahawk/TomahawkApp.cpp
+++ b/src/tomahawk/TomahawkApp.cpp
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@
 //#include "accounts/spotify/SpotifyPlaylistUpdater.h"
 #include "accounts/AccountManager.h"
 #include "audio/AudioEngine.h"
+#include "audio/AudioOutput.h"
 #include "database/Database.h"
 #include "database/DatabaseCollection.h"
 #include "database/DatabaseCommand_CollectionStats.h"
@@ -630,7 +631,7 @@ TomahawkApp::onInfoSystemReady()
     Echonest::Config::instance()->setNetworkAccessManager( Tomahawk::Utils::nam() );
     EchonestGenerator::setupCatalogs();
 
-    m_scanManager = QPointer<ScanManager>( new ScanManager( this ) );
+    m_scanManager = QPointer<ScanManager>( new ScanManager( this, AudioOutput::instance()->vlcInstance() ) );
     if ( !m_headless )
     {
         tDebug() << "Init MainWindow.";
diff --git a/src/tools/tomahawk-test-musicscan/main.cpp b/src/tools/tomahawk-test-musicscan/main.cpp
index ccf48f54c..c1481a6d8 100644
--- a/src/tools/tomahawk-test-musicscan/main.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/tomahawk-test-musicscan/main.cpp
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 
 #include <iostream>
 
+#include "libtomahawk/audio/AudioOutput.h"
+
 void
 usage()
 {
@@ -33,7 +35,13 @@ main( int argc, char* argv[] )
 
     if ( pathInfo.isFile() )
     {
-        qDebug() << MusicScanner::readTags( pathInfo );
+        // Start VLC instance
+        AudioOutput* ao = new AudioOutput();
+
+        qDebug() << MusicScanner::readTags( pathInfo, ao->vlcInstance() );
+
+        // Close AudioOutput again
+        delete ao;
     }
     else if ( pathInfo.isDir() )
     {
@@ -41,10 +49,13 @@ main( int argc, char* argv[] )
         qRegisterMetaType< QDir >( "QDir" );
         qRegisterMetaType< QFileInfo >( "QFileInfo" );
 
+        // Start VLC instance
+        AudioOutput* ao = new AudioOutput();
+
         // Create the MusicScanner instance
         QStringList paths;
         paths << pathInfo.canonicalFilePath();
-        MusicScanner scanner( MusicScanner::DirScan, paths, 0 );
+        MusicScanner scanner( MusicScanner::DirScan, paths, ao->vlcInstance() );
 
         // We want a dry-run of the scanner and not update any internal data.
         scanner.setDryRun( true );
@@ -61,6 +72,9 @@ main( int argc, char* argv[] )
 
         // Wait until the scanner has done its work.
         scannerThread.wait();
+
+        // Close AudioOutput again
+        delete ao;
     }
     else
     {