MPNowPlayingInfoCenter defaultCenter will not update or retrieve information - iphone

Question

I'm working to update the MPNowPlayingInfoCenter and having a bit of trouble. I've tried quite a bit to the point where I'm at a loss. The following is my code:
self.audioPlayer.allowsAirPlay = NO;
Class playingInfoCenter = NSClassFromString(#"MPNowPlayingInfoCenter");
if (playingInfoCenter) {
NSMutableDictionary *songInfo = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
MPMediaItemArtwork *albumArt = [[MPMediaItemArtwork alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:#"series_placeholder"]];
[songInfo setObject:thePodcast.title forKey:MPMediaItemPropertyTitle];
[songInfo setObject:thePodcast.author forKey:MPMediaItemPropertyArtist];
[songInfo setObject:#"NCC" forKey:MPMediaItemPropertyAlbumTitle];
[songInfo setObject:albumArt forKey:MPMediaItemPropertyArtwork];
[[MPNowPlayingInfoCenter defaultCenter] setNowPlayingInfo:songInfo];
}
This isn't working, I've also tried:
[[MPNowPlayingInfoCenter defaultCenter] setNowPlayingInfo:nil];
In an attempt to get it to remove the existing information from the iPod app (or whatever may have info there). In addition, just to see if I could find out the problem, I've tried retrieving the current information on app launch:
NSDictionary *info = [[MPNowPlayingInfoCenter defaultCenter] nowPlayingInfo];
NSString *title = [info valueForKey:MPMediaItemPropertyTitle];
NSString *author = [info valueForKey:MPMediaItemPropertyArtist];
NSLog(#"Currently playing: %# // %#", title, author);
and I get Currently playing: (null) // (null)
I've researched this quite a bit and the following articles explain it pretty thoroughly, however, I am still unable to get this working properly. Am I missing something? Would there be anything interfering with this? Is this a service something my app needs to register to access (didn't see this in any docs)?
Apple's Docs
Change lock screen background audio controls
Now playing info ignored

Answer 1

I finally figured out the problem, I was not prompting my app to receive remote control events, simply adding this line fixed the problem:
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] beginReceivingRemoteControlEvents];

Answer 2

I use the code below and it always works. I'm also using MPMoviePlayer like you. Have you checked whether NSClassFromString(#"MPNowPlayingInfoCenter") ever actually returns YES? Have you set you app play audio in background key in your plist?
- (void) loadMPInformation
{
NSDictionary *mpInfo;
if([savedTrack.belongingAlbum.hasAlbumArt boolValue] == NO){
mpInfo = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:savedTrack.belongingAlbum.album, MPMediaItemPropertyAlbumTitle,
savedTrack.belongingArtist.artist, MPMediaItemPropertyArtist, savedTrack.name, MPMediaItemPropertyTitle, nil];
} else {
UIImage *artImage = [UIImage imageWithData:savedTrack.belongingAlbum.art];
MPMediaItemArtwork *artwork = [[MPMediaItemArtwork alloc] initWithImage:artImage];
mpInfo = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:savedTrack.belongingAlbum.album, MPMediaItemPropertyAlbumTitle,
savedTrack.belongingArtist.artist, MPMediaItemPropertyArtist, savedTrack.name, MPMediaItemPropertyTitle, artwork, MPMediaItemPropertyArtwork, nil];
}
[MPNowPlayingInfoCenter defaultCenter].nowPlayingInfo = mpInfo;
}