diff --git a/RedBookPlayer.GUI/MainWindow.xaml.cs b/RedBookPlayer.GUI/MainWindow.xaml.cs
index a04d83f..094c53e 100644
--- a/RedBookPlayer.GUI/MainWindow.xaml.cs
+++ b/RedBookPlayer.GUI/MainWindow.xaml.cs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ using System.Xml;
 using Avalonia.Controls;
 using Avalonia.Input;
 using Avalonia.Markup.Xaml;
+using RedBookPlayer.Common;
 
 namespace RedBookPlayer.GUI
 {
@@ -30,10 +31,13 @@ namespace RedBookPlayer.GUI
             if(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(theme))
                 return;
 
+            // If we already have a view, cache the view model
+            PlayerViewModel pvm = ((PlayerView)Instance.ContentControl.Content).PlayerViewModel;
+
             // If the theme name is "default", we assume the internal theme is used
             if(theme.Equals("default", StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase))
             {
-                Instance.ContentControl.Content = new PlayerView();
+                Instance.ContentControl.Content = new PlayerView(pvm);
             }
             else
             {
@@ -50,12 +54,12 @@ namespace RedBookPlayer.GUI
                 {
                     string xaml = File.ReadAllText(xamlPath);
                     xaml = xaml.Replace("Source=\"", $"Source=\"file://{themeDirectory}/");
-                    Instance.ContentControl.Content = new PlayerView(xaml);
+                    Instance.ContentControl.Content = new PlayerView(xaml, pvm);
                 }
                 catch(XmlException ex)
                 {
                     Console.WriteLine($"Error: invalid theme XAML ({ex.Message}), reverting to default");
-                    Instance.ContentControl.Content = new PlayerView();
+                    Instance.ContentControl.Content = new PlayerView(pvm);
                 }
             }
 
diff --git a/RedBookPlayer.GUI/PlayerView.xaml.cs b/RedBookPlayer.GUI/PlayerView.xaml.cs
index 16f43cc..6696fd0 100644
--- a/RedBookPlayer.GUI/PlayerView.xaml.cs
+++ b/RedBookPlayer.GUI/PlayerView.xaml.cs
@@ -30,15 +30,27 @@ namespace RedBookPlayer.GUI
         /// <summary>
         /// Initialize the UI based on the default theme
         /// </summary>
-        public PlayerView() : this(null) { }
+        public PlayerView() : this(null, null) { }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Initialize the UI based on the default theme with an existing view model
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="xaml">XAML data representing the theme, null for default</param>
+        /// <param name="playerViewModel">Existing PlayerViewModel to load in instead of creating a new one</param>
+        public PlayerView(PlayerViewModel playerViewModel) : this(null, playerViewModel) { }
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Initialize the UI based on the currently selected theme
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="xaml">XAML data representing the theme, null for default</param>
-        public PlayerView(string xaml)
+        /// <param name="playerViewModel">Existing PlayerViewModel to load in instead of creating a new one</param>
+        public PlayerView(string xaml, PlayerViewModel playerViewModel)
         {
-            DataContext = new PlayerViewModel();
+            if(playerViewModel != null)
+                DataContext = playerViewModel;
+            else
+                DataContext = new PlayerViewModel();
+
             PlayerViewModel.PropertyChanged += PlayerViewModelStateChanged;
 
             LoadTheme(xaml);