diff --git a/src/components/views/audio_messages/AudioPlayer.tsx b/src/components/views/audio_messages/AudioPlayer.tsx
index 3c0e5c1143..b83f89fe5b 100644
--- a/src/components/views/audio_messages/AudioPlayer.tsx
+++ b/src/components/views/audio_messages/AudioPlayer.tsx
@@ -14,9 +14,7 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-import { Playback, PlaybackState } from "../../../audio/Playback";
 import React, { createRef, ReactNode, RefObject } from "react";
-import { UPDATE_EVENT } from "../../../stores/AsyncStore";
 import PlayPauseButton from "./PlayPauseButton";
 import { replaceableComponent } from "../../../utils/replaceableComponent";
 import { formatBytes } from "../../../utils/FormattingUtils";
@@ -25,47 +23,13 @@ import { Key } from "../../../Keyboard";
 import { _t } from "../../../languageHandler";
 import SeekBar from "./SeekBar";
 import PlaybackClock from "./PlaybackClock";
-
-interface IProps {
-    // Playback instance to render. Cannot change during component lifecycle: create
-    // an all-new component instead.
-    playback: Playback;
-
-    mediaName: string;
-}
-
-interface IState {
-    playbackPhase: PlaybackState;
-    error?: boolean;
-}
+import AudioPlayerBase from "./AudioPlayerBase";
 
 @replaceableComponent("views.audio_messages.AudioPlayer")
-export default class AudioPlayer extends React.PureComponent<IProps, IState> {
+export default class AudioPlayer extends AudioPlayerBase {
     private playPauseRef: RefObject<PlayPauseButton> = createRef();
     private seekRef: RefObject<SeekBar> = createRef();
 
-    constructor(props: IProps) {
-        super(props);
-
-        this.state = {
-            playbackPhase: PlaybackState.Decoding, // default assumption
-        };
-
-        // We don't need to de-register: the class handles this for us internally
-        this.props.playback.on(UPDATE_EVENT, this.onPlaybackUpdate);
-
-        // Don't wait for the promise to complete - it will emit a progress update when it
-        // is done, and it's not meant to take long anyhow.
-        this.props.playback.prepare().catch(e => {
-            console.error("Error processing audio file:", e);
-            this.setState({ error: true });
-        });
-    }
-
-    private onPlaybackUpdate = (ev: PlaybackState) => {
-        this.setState({ playbackPhase: ev });
-    };
-
     private onKeyDown = (ev: React.KeyboardEvent) => {
         // stopPropagation() prevents the FocusComposer catch-all from triggering,
         // but we need to do it on key down instead of press (even though the user
@@ -91,10 +55,10 @@ export default class AudioPlayer extends React.PureComponent<IProps, IState> {
         return `(${formatBytes(bytes)})`;
     }
 
-    public render(): ReactNode {
+    protected renderComponent(): ReactNode {
         // tabIndex=0 to ensure that the whole component becomes a tab stop, where we handle keyboard
         // events for accessibility
-        return <>
+        return (
             <div className='mx_MediaBody mx_AudioPlayer_container' tabIndex={0} onKeyDown={this.onKeyDown}>
                 <div className='mx_AudioPlayer_primaryContainer'>
                     <PlayPauseButton
@@ -124,7 +88,6 @@ export default class AudioPlayer extends React.PureComponent<IProps, IState> {
                     <PlaybackClock playback={this.props.playback} defaultDisplaySeconds={0} />
                 </div>
             </div>
-            { this.state.error && <div className="text-warning">{ _t("Error downloading audio") }</div> }
-        </>;
+        );
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/components/views/audio_messages/AudioPlayerBase.tsx b/src/components/views/audio_messages/AudioPlayerBase.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d8fc9d507f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/views/audio_messages/AudioPlayerBase.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2021 The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+import { Playback, PlaybackState } from "../../../audio/Playback";
+import { TileShape } from "../rooms/EventTile";
+import React, { ReactNode } from "react";
+import { UPDATE_EVENT } from "../../../stores/AsyncStore";
+import { replaceableComponent } from "../../../utils/replaceableComponent";
+import { _t } from "../../../languageHandler";
+
+interface IProps {
+    // Playback instance to render. Cannot change during component lifecycle: create
+    // an all-new component instead.
+    playback: Playback;
+
+    mediaName?: string;
+    tileShape?: TileShape;
+}
+
+interface IState {
+    playbackPhase: PlaybackState;
+    error?: boolean;
+}
+
+@replaceableComponent("views.audio_messages.AudioPlayerBase")
+export default abstract class AudioPlayerBase extends React.PureComponent<IProps, IState> {
+    constructor(props: IProps) {
+        super(props);
+
+        this.state = {
+            playbackPhase: PlaybackState.Decoding, // default assumption
+        };
+
+        // We don't need to de-register: the class handles this for us internally
+        this.props.playback.on(UPDATE_EVENT, this.onPlaybackUpdate);
+
+        // Don't wait for the promise to complete - it will emit a progress update when it
+        // is done, and it's not meant to take long anyhow.
+        this.props.playback.prepare().catch(e => {
+            console.error("Error processing audio file:", e);
+            this.setState({ error: true });
+        });
+    }
+
+    private onPlaybackUpdate = (ev: PlaybackState) => {
+        this.setState({ playbackPhase: ev });
+    };
+
+    protected abstract renderComponent(): ReactNode;
+
+    public render(): ReactNode {
+        return <>
+            { this.renderComponent() }
+            { this.state.error && <div className="text-warning">{ _t("Error downloading audio") }</div> }
+        </>;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/components/views/audio_messages/RecordingPlayback.tsx b/src/components/views/audio_messages/RecordingPlayback.tsx
index 9a45101efc..e3f612c9b6 100644
--- a/src/components/views/audio_messages/RecordingPlayback.tsx
+++ b/src/components/views/audio_messages/RecordingPlayback.tsx
@@ -14,68 +14,30 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-import { Playback, PlaybackState } from "../../../audio/Playback";
 import React, { ReactNode } from "react";
-import { UPDATE_EVENT } from "../../../stores/AsyncStore";
 import PlayPauseButton from "./PlayPauseButton";
 import PlaybackClock from "./PlaybackClock";
 import { replaceableComponent } from "../../../utils/replaceableComponent";
 import { TileShape } from "../rooms/EventTile";
 import PlaybackWaveform from "./PlaybackWaveform";
-import { _t } from "../../../languageHandler";
-
-interface IProps {
-    // Playback instance to render. Cannot change during component lifecycle: create
-    // an all-new component instead.
-    playback: Playback;
-
-    tileShape?: TileShape;
-}
-
-interface IState {
-    playbackPhase: PlaybackState;
-    error?: boolean;
-}
+import AudioPlayerBase from "./AudioPlayerBase";
 
 @replaceableComponent("views.audio_messages.RecordingPlayback")
-export default class RecordingPlayback extends React.PureComponent<IProps, IState> {
-    constructor(props: IProps) {
-        super(props);
-
-        this.state = {
-            playbackPhase: PlaybackState.Decoding, // default assumption
-        };
-
-        // We don't need to de-register: the class handles this for us internally
-        this.props.playback.on(UPDATE_EVENT, this.onPlaybackUpdate);
-
-        // Don't wait for the promise to complete - it will emit a progress update when it
-        // is done, and it's not meant to take long anyhow.
-        this.props.playback.prepare().catch(e => {
-            console.error("Error processing audio file:", e);
-            this.setState({ error: true });
-        });
-    }
-
+export default class RecordingPlayback extends AudioPlayerBase {
     private get isWaveformable(): boolean {
         return this.props.tileShape !== TileShape.Notif
             && this.props.tileShape !== TileShape.FileGrid
             && this.props.tileShape !== TileShape.Pinned;
     }
 
-    private onPlaybackUpdate = (ev: PlaybackState) => {
-        this.setState({ playbackPhase: ev });
-    };
-
-    public render(): ReactNode {
+    protected renderComponent(): ReactNode {
         const shapeClass = !this.isWaveformable ? 'mx_VoiceMessagePrimaryContainer_noWaveform' : '';
-        return <>
+        return (
             <div className={'mx_MediaBody mx_VoiceMessagePrimaryContainer ' + shapeClass}>
                 <PlayPauseButton playback={this.props.playback} playbackPhase={this.state.playbackPhase} />
                 <PlaybackClock playback={this.props.playback} />
                 { this.isWaveformable && <PlaybackWaveform playback={this.props.playback} /> }
             </div>
-            { this.state.error && <div className="text-warning">{ _t("Error downloading audio") }</div> }
-        </>;
+        );
     }
 }