hello im on ubuntu 12.04 unity and im having two problems.

first off the the little speaker at the top off the dashboard next to the time well when i click it and hit the play button in the drop down menu it just sits there and spins a orange loading circle. and when i open rhytem box and play music it doesnt show up in the skip and skip back area like it used too and i loved that feature can some one help me with it???

The other problem i face is audio playback is choppy and skipy on all my music and i dont know why... is it because its all in .mp3 or windows media players format?? (cant remember the format)

some please help me out