Suggestion: Move the Media Control to Volume OSD
The notification area is quite full, and I am in the believe that the media controls may be better suited in the Volume OSD.
The picture shows two versions of the same interface, and it works quite naturally. Without any media the Volume OSD only shows the volume(like in the picture shown below). No change to the media controls on the lockscreen. While the phone is unlocked, a single press of any of the volume buttons brings up the menu, any further press changes the volume.
In my thought, this was an extension to this design:
To me it was a natural action to access media controls in the volume OSD, it feels less intrusive to me, takes less of the visual content.
As this is a question of design and taste, ping @bertob