1. A method comprising: obtaining metadata for a media item, wherein the metadata comprises a genre of the media item and at least one other piece of information selected from a group comprising: a year that the media item was released; a title of the media item; an artist name; a producer name; a distributor name; a string length of the title; and a string length of the artist; based on the metadata, generating a cover image to represent the media item in a user interface, the cover image being stylistically relevant to the media item; presenting the cover image as part of the user interface during navigation and playback of the media item; periodically check to see if an original cover image corresponding to the media item becomes available, the original cover image being provided by online services; and in response to the original cover image becoming available, replacing the cover image with the original cover image.