diff --git a/mopidy/frontends/http/actor.py b/mopidy/frontends/http/actor.py
index f6a9a441..181eb93c 100644
--- a/mopidy/frontends/http/actor.py
+++ b/mopidy/frontends/http/actor.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class HttpFrontend(pykka.ThreadingActor, CoreListener):
     def _create_app(self):
         root = RootResource()
         root.api = api.ApiResource(self.core)
-        root.ws = ws.WebSocketResource()
+        root.ws = ws.WebSocketResource(self.core)
 
         if settings.HTTP_SERVER_STATIC_DIR:
             static_dir = settings.HTTP_SERVER_STATIC_DIR
diff --git a/mopidy/frontends/http/ws.py b/mopidy/frontends/http/ws.py
index 98fe8562..581eb849 100644
--- a/mopidy/frontends/http/ws.py
+++ b/mopidy/frontends/http/ws.py
@@ -15,9 +15,13 @@ logger = logging.getLogger('mopidy.frontends.http')
 
 
 class WebSocketResource(object):
+    def __init__(self, core):
+        self.core = core
+
     @cherrypy.expose
     def index(self):
         logger.debug('WebSocket handler created')
+        cherrypy.request.ws_handler.core = self.core
 
 
 class WebSocketHandler(WebSocket):
@@ -40,3 +44,6 @@ class WebSocketHandler(WebSocket):
             'Received WebSocket message from %s:%d: %s',
             remote.ip, remote.port, message)
         # This is where we would handle incoming messages from the clients
+
+        # This is just for demonstration purposes
+        self.send('Playback state: %s' % self.core.playback.state.get())