Example techniques relate to cloud queue synchronization. An example implementation may involve a playback device receiving, from a cloud computing system, data representing a play message comprising: (i) a play pointer representing a particular media item; (ii) an indication of one or more media items, the one or more media items including the particular media item; and (iii) a universal resource identifier (URI) representing a location of the particular media item at one or more servers of a streaming audio service. The playback device queues the one or more media items in a local queue stored in data storage of the playback device, streams the particular media item, and plays back the particular media item. After beginning playback of the particular media item, the playback device sends a playback started message comprising the play pointer, the play pointer representing the particular media item as the currently playing media item.