diff --git a/ovos_core/intent_services/ocp_service.py b/ovos_core/intent_services/ocp_service.py
index 919e3b66a66..90003b3a0ff 100644
--- a/ovos_core/intent_services/ocp_service.py
+++ b/ovos_core/intent_services/ocp_service.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import time
 from os.path import join, dirname
 from threading import RLock
-from typing import List, Tuple, Optional
+from typing import List, Tuple, Optional, Union
 
 from ovos_classifiers.skovos.classifier import SklearnOVOSClassifier
 from ovos_classifiers.skovos.features import ClassifierProbaVectorizer, KeywordFeaturesVectorizer
@@ -19,9 +19,15 @@
 from ovos_utils import classproperty
 from ovos_utils.log import LOG
 from ovos_utils.messagebus import FakeBus
-from ovos_utils.ocp import MediaType, PlaybackType, PlaybackMode, PlayerState, OCP_ID, MediaEntry, Playlist, MediaState
+from ovos_utils.ocp import (MediaType, PlaybackType, PlaybackMode, PlayerState, OCP_ID,
+                            MediaEntry, Playlist, MediaState, TrackState)
 from ovos_workshop.app import OVOSAbstractApplication
 
+try:
+    from ovos_utils.ocp import dict2entry
+except ImportError:  # older ovos-utils
+    dict2entry = MediaEntry.from_dict
+
 
 class OCPFeaturizer:
     # ignore_list accounts for "noise" keywords in the csv file
@@ -172,6 +178,7 @@ def register_ocp_api_events(self):
         self.bus.on("ovos.common_play.search", self.handle_search_query)
         self.bus.on("ovos.common_play.play_search", self.handle_play_search)
         self.bus.on('ovos.common_play.status.response', self.handle_player_state_update)
+        self.bus.on('ovos.common_play.track.state', self.handle_track_state_update)
         self.bus.on('ovos.common_play.SEI.get.response', self.handle_get_SEIs)
 
         self.bus.on('ovos.common_play.register_keyword', self.handle_skill_keyword_register)
@@ -183,7 +190,7 @@ def register_ocp_api_events(self):
         self.bus.on("mycroft.audio.service.pause", self._handle_legacy_audio_pause)
         self.bus.on("mycroft.audio.service.resume", self._handle_legacy_audio_resume)
         self.bus.on("mycroft.audio.service.stop", self._handle_legacy_audio_stop)
-        self.bus.emit(Message("ovos.common_play.status"))  # sync on launch
+        self.bus.emit(Message("ovos.common_play.status"))  # sync player state on launch
 
     def register_ocp_intents(self):
         intent_files = self.load_resource_files()
@@ -302,6 +309,21 @@ def handle_skill_keyword_deregister(self, message: Message):
         # we need to keep the keyword available to the classifier
         # OCPFeaturizer.ocp_keywords.deregister_entity(kw_label)
 
+    def handle_track_state_update(self, message: Message):
+        """ovos.common_play.track.state"""
+        state = message.data.get("state")
+        if state is None:
+            raise ValueError(f"Got state update message with no state: "
+                             f"{message}")
+        if isinstance(state, int):
+            state = TrackState(state)
+        if self.player_state != PlayerState.PLAYING and \
+                state in [TrackState.PLAYING_AUDIO, TrackState.PLAYING_AUDIOSERVICE,
+                          TrackState.PLAYING_VIDEO, TrackState.PLAYING_WEBVIEW,
+                          TrackState.PLAYING_MPRIS]:
+            self.player_state = PlayerState.PLAYING
+            LOG.info(f"OCP PlayerState: {self.player_state}")
+
     def handle_player_state_update(self, message: Message):
         """
         Handles 'ovos.common_play.status' messages with player status updates
@@ -567,6 +589,9 @@ def handle_stop_intent(self, message: Message):
         else:
             LOG.info("Requesting OCP to stop")
             self.ocp_api.stop()
+            # old ocp doesnt report stopped state ...
+            # TODO - remove this once proper events are emitted
+            self.player_state = PlayerState.STOPPED
 
     def handle_next_intent(self, message: Message):
         if self.use_legacy_audio:
@@ -731,14 +756,19 @@ def _should_resume(self, phrase: str, lang: str) -> bool:
         return False
 
     # search
-    def filter_results(self, results: list, phrase: str, lang: str,
-                       media_type: MediaType = MediaType.GENERIC) -> list:
-
+    def normalize_results(self, results: list) -> List[Union[MediaEntry, Playlist]]:
         # support Playlist and MediaEntry objects in tracks
         for idx, track in enumerate(results):
             if isinstance(track, dict):
-                results[idx] = MediaEntry.from_dict(track)
+                try:
+                    results[idx] = dict2entry(track)
+                except Exception as e:
+                    LOG.error(f"got an invalid track: {track}")
+                    results[idx] = None
+        return [r for r in results if r]
 
+    def filter_results(self, results: list, phrase: str, lang: str,
+                       media_type: MediaType = MediaType.GENERIC) -> list:
         # ignore very low score matches
         l1 = len(results)
         results = [r for r in results
@@ -808,9 +838,15 @@ def _search(self, phrase: str, media_type: MediaType, lang: str,
                                      skills=skills):
             results += r["results"]
 
-        LOG.debug(f"Got {len(results)} results")
-        results = self.filter_results(results, phrase, lang, media_type)
-        LOG.debug(f"Got {len(results)} usable results")
+        results = self.normalize_results(results)
+
+        if not skills:
+            LOG.debug(f"Got {len(results)} results")
+            results = self.filter_results(results, phrase, lang, media_type)
+            LOG.debug(f"Got {len(results)} usable results")
+        else:  # no filtering if skill explicitly requested
+            LOG.debug(f"Got {len(results)} usable results from {skills}")
+
         self.bus.emit(Message("ovos.common_play.search.end"))
         return results
 
@@ -865,7 +901,7 @@ def select_best(self, results: list) -> MediaEntry:
 
         for res in results:
             if isinstance(res, dict):
-                res = MediaEntry.from_dict(res)
+                res = dict2entry(res)
             if not best or res.match_confidence > best.match_confidence:
                 best = res
                 ties = [best]