A method to be performed by a network device of a playback system comprising the network device and a particular playback device connected via a playback network, the method comprising: storing, in a memory of the network device, a state variable indicating a status of the particular playback device; detecting a failure of the particular playback device, wherein the failure is one of a disconnection of the particular playback device from other components of the playback network and an inability of the particular playback device to perform a playback responsibility of the playback device; and detecting that the particular playback device (102, 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 152, 154, 156, 200, 202, 204, 300, 400) has reconnected to the playback network or has become reactivated; the method characterized by further comprising: determining, by the network device based on the stored state variable, the playback responsibility that was associated with the particular playback device prior to detecting the failure of the particular playback device, wherein the playback responsibility indicates at least one of: a volume level for audio playback by the particular playback device; one or more audio channels of the audio content; and one or more audio frequency ranges of the audio content; and causing, by the network device, the particular playback device to render audio content according to the determined playback responsibility of the particular playback device. storing, in a memory of the network device, a state variable indicating a status of the particular playback device; detecting a failure of the particular playback device, wherein the failure is one of a disconnection of the particular playback device from other components of the playback network and an inability of the particular playback device to perform a playback responsibility of the playback device; and detecting that the particular playback device (102, 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 152, 154, 156, 200, 202, 204, 300, 400) has reconnected to the playback network or has become reactivated; the method characterized by further comprising: determining, by the network device based on the stored state variable, the playback responsibility that was associated with the particular playback device prior to detecting the failure of the particular playback device, wherein the playback responsibility indicates at least one of: a volume level for audio playback by the particular playback device; one or more audio channels of the audio content; and one or more audio frequency ranges of the audio content; and causing, by the network device, the particular playback device to render audio content according to the determined playback responsibility of the particular playback device. determining, by the network device based on the stored state variable, the playback responsibility that was associated with the particular playback device prior to detecting the failure of the particular playback device, wherein the playback responsibility indicates at least one of: a volume level for audio playback by the particular playback device; one or more audio channels of the audio content; and one or more audio frequency ranges of the audio content; and a volume level for audio playback by the particular playback device; one or more audio channels of the audio content; and one or more audio frequency ranges of the audio content; and causing, by the network device, the particular playback device to render audio content according to the determined playback responsibility of the particular playback device.