A method of generating a lighting effect based on metadata of an audio stream, the method comprising a step of: - extracting (S402) one or more metadata items from the audio stream, wherein the metadata items comprise one or more of: artist, song title, album, genre and mood; characterized by : - ranking (S601) the metadata items from a highest ranked metadata item to a lowest ranked metadata item according to a ranking scheme; - retrieving (S403) a first set of one or more images based on a value of the highest ranked metadata item, wherein a value of a metadata item refers to a particular value of the metadata item associated to the audio stream; - determining (S602) a color palette consistency of the first set of one or more images retrieved based on the highest ranked metadata item, wherein (S603): - if said color palette consistency meets or exceeds a threshold color palette consistency, controlling (S405) a light source to generate a lighting effect based on a color palette derived from said first set of one or more images; and else - if said color palette consistency is less than the threshold color palette consistency, retrieving a second set of one or more images based on a value of a second highest ranked metadata item according to said ranking and repeating the step of determining (S602) a color palette consistency for the second set of one or more images. - extracting (S402) one or more metadata items from the audio stream, wherein the metadata items comprise one or more of: artist, song title, album, genre and mood; characterized by : - ranking (S601) the metadata items from a highest ranked metadata item to a lowest ranked metadata item according to a ranking scheme; - retrieving (S403) a first set of one or more images based on a value of the highest ranked metadata item, wherein a value of a metadata item refers to a particular value of the metadata item associated to the audio stream; - determining (S602) a color palette consistency of the first set of one or more images retrieved based on the highest ranked metadata item, wherein (S603): - if said color palette consistency meets or exceeds a threshold color palette consistency, controlling (S405) a light source to generate a lighting effect based on a color palette derived from said first set of one or more images; and else - if said color palette consistency is less than the threshold color palette consistency, retrieving a second set of one or more images based on a value of a second highest ranked metadata item according to said ranking and repeating the step of determining (S602) a color palette consistency for the second set of one or more images. - if said color palette consistency meets or exceeds a threshold color palette consistency, controlling (S405) a light source to generate a lighting effect based on a color palette derived from said first set of one or more images; and else - if said color palette consistency is less than the threshold color palette consistency, retrieving a second set of one or more images based on a value of a second highest ranked metadata item according to said ranking and repeating the step of determining (S602) a color palette consistency for the second set of one or more images. <EOS>