diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/glide/artistimage/ArtistImageFetcher.java b/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/glide/artistimage/ArtistImageFetcher.java
index fa695559..1ac89bb6 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/glide/artistimage/ArtistImageFetcher.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/glide/artistimage/ArtistImageFetcher.java
@@ -12,8 +12,12 @@ import com.kabouzeid.gramophone.util.LastFMUtil;
 import com.kabouzeid.gramophone.util.MusicUtil;
 import com.kabouzeid.gramophone.util.Util;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 
+import hugo.weaving.DebugLog;
+import retrofit.Response;
+
 /**
  * @author Karim Abou Zeid (kabouzeid)
  */
@@ -27,6 +31,7 @@ public class ArtistImageFetcher implements DataFetcher<InputStream> {
     private final int height;
     private volatile boolean isCancelled;
     private DataFetcher<InputStream> urlFetcher;
+    private InputStream inputStream;
 
     public ArtistImageFetcher(Context context, LastFMRestClient lastFMRestClient, ArtistImage model, ModelLoader<GlideUrl, InputStream> urlLoader, int width, int height) {
         this.context = context;
@@ -45,12 +50,21 @@ public class ArtistImageFetcher implements DataFetcher<InputStream> {
     @Override
     public InputStream loadData(Priority priority) throws Exception {
         if (!MusicUtil.isArtistNameUnknown(model.artistName) && Util.isAllowedToAutoDownload(context)) {
-            LastFmArtist lastFmArtist = lastFMRestClient.getApiService().getArtistInfo(model.artistName, model.skipOkHttpCache ? "no-cache" : null).execute().body();
+            Response<LastFmArtist> response = lastFMRestClient.getApiService().getArtistInfo(model.artistName, model.skipOkHttpCache ? "no-cache" : null).execute();
+
+            if (!response.isSuccess()) {
+                throw new IOException("Request failed with code: " + response.code());
+            }
+
+            LastFmArtist lastFmArtist = response.body();
 
             if (isCancelled) return null;
 
-            urlFetcher = urlLoader.getResourceFetcher(new GlideUrl(LastFMUtil.getLargestArtistImageUrl(lastFmArtist.getArtist().getImage())), width, height);
-            return urlFetcher.loadData(priority);
+            GlideUrl url = new GlideUrl(LastFMUtil.getLargestArtistImageUrl(lastFmArtist.getArtist().getImage()));
+            urlFetcher = urlLoader.getResourceFetcher(url, width, height);
+            inputStream = urlFetcher.loadData(priority);
+
+            return inputStream;
         }
         return null;
     }
@@ -62,11 +76,19 @@ public class ArtistImageFetcher implements DataFetcher<InputStream> {
         }
     }
 
+    @DebugLog
     @Override
     public void cancel() {
         isCancelled = true;
         if (urlFetcher != null) {
             urlFetcher.cancel();
         }
+        if (inputStream != null) {
+            try {
+                inputStream.close();
+            } catch (Throwable t) {
+                t.printStackTrace();
+            }
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/glide/artistimage/ArtistImageLoader.java b/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/glide/artistimage/ArtistImageLoader.java
index fe08678a..815c9381 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/glide/artistimage/ArtistImageLoader.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/glide/artistimage/ArtistImageLoader.java
@@ -10,8 +10,10 @@ import com.bumptech.glide.load.model.ModelLoader;
 import com.bumptech.glide.load.model.ModelLoaderFactory;
 import com.bumptech.glide.load.model.stream.StreamModelLoader;
 import com.kabouzeid.gramophone.lastfm.rest.LastFMRestClient;
+import com.squareup.okhttp.OkHttpClient;
 
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 /**
  * @author Karim Abou Zeid (kabouzeid)
@@ -38,8 +40,14 @@ public class ArtistImageLoader implements StreamModelLoader<ArtistImage> {
         private OkHttpUrlLoader.Factory okHttpFactory;
 
         public Factory(Context context) {
-            okHttpFactory = new OkHttpUrlLoader.Factory();
-            lastFMClient = new LastFMRestClient(context);
+            // we need these very low values to make sure our artist image loading calls doesn't block the image loading queue
+            OkHttpClient okHttpClient = new OkHttpClient();
+            okHttpClient.setConnectTimeout(500, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+            okHttpClient.setReadTimeout(500, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+            okHttpClient.setWriteTimeout(500, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+
+            okHttpFactory = new OkHttpUrlLoader.Factory(okHttpClient);
+            lastFMClient = new LastFMRestClient(context, okHttpClient);
         }
 
         @Override
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/lastfm/rest/LastFMRestClient.java b/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/lastfm/rest/LastFMRestClient.java
index 85110f5e..e1718087 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/lastfm/rest/LastFMRestClient.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/lastfm/rest/LastFMRestClient.java
@@ -25,8 +25,10 @@ public class LastFMRestClient {
     private LastFMService apiService;
 
     public LastFMRestClient(@NonNull Context context) {
-        OkHttpClient okHttpClient = new OkHttpClient();
+        this(context, new OkHttpClient());
+    }
 
+    public LastFMRestClient(@NonNull Context context, @NonNull OkHttpClient okHttpClient) {
         File cacheDir = new File(context.getCacheDir().getAbsolutePath(), "/okhttp-lastfm/");
         if (cacheDir.mkdirs() || cacheDir.isDirectory()) {
             okHttpClient.setCache(new Cache(cacheDir, 1024 * 1024 * 10));
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/ui/activities/ArtistDetailActivity.java b/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/ui/activities/ArtistDetailActivity.java
index d2d08250..22babb44 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/ui/activities/ArtistDetailActivity.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/kabouzeid/gramophone/ui/activities/ArtistDetailActivity.java
@@ -265,21 +265,19 @@ public class ArtistDetailActivity extends AbsSlidingMusicPanelActivity implement
                 .override(Target.SIZE_ORIGINAL, Target.SIZE_ORIGINAL)
                 .listener(new RequestListener<ArtistImage, BitmapPaletteWrapper>() {
                     @Override
-                    public boolean onException(Exception e, ArtistImage model, Target<BitmapPaletteWrapper> target, boolean isFirstResource) {
-                        toastUpdatedArtistImageIfDownloadWasForced();
+                    public boolean onException(@Nullable Exception e, ArtistImage model, Target<BitmapPaletteWrapper> target, boolean isFirstResource) {
+                        if (forceDownload) {
+                            Toast.makeText(ArtistDetailActivity.this, e != null ? e.getClass().getSimpleName() : "Error", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
+                        }
                         return false;
                     }
 
                     @Override
                     public boolean onResourceReady(BitmapPaletteWrapper resource, ArtistImage model, Target<BitmapPaletteWrapper> target, boolean isFromMemoryCache, boolean isFirstResource) {
-                        toastUpdatedArtistImageIfDownloadWasForced();
-                        return false;
-                    }
-
-                    private void toastUpdatedArtistImageIfDownloadWasForced() {
                         if (forceDownload) {
                             Toast.makeText(ArtistDetailActivity.this, getString(R.string.updated_artist_image), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                         }
+                        return false;
                     }
                 })
                 .into(new PhonographColoredTarget(artistImage) {