diff --git a/examples/beep.rs b/examples/beep.rs
index ee3e125..82e154d 100644
--- a/examples/beep.rs
+++ b/examples/beep.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ fn main() {
     let format = device.default_output_format().expect("Failed to get default output format");
     let event_loop = cpal::EventLoop::new();
     let stream_id = event_loop.build_output_stream(&device, &format).unwrap();
-    event_loop.play_stream(stream_id.clone());
+    event_loop.play_stream(stream_id.clone()).unwrap();
 
     let sample_rate = format.sample_rate.0 as f32;
     let mut sample_clock = 0f32;
diff --git a/examples/feedback.rs b/examples/feedback.rs
index 3807b53..eaa22a9 100644
--- a/examples/feedback.rs
+++ b/examples/feedback.rs
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ fn main() {
 
     // Play the streams.
     println!("Starting the input and output streams with `{}` milliseconds of latency.", LATENCY_MS);
-    event_loop.play_stream(input_stream_id.clone());
-    event_loop.play_stream(output_stream_id.clone());
+    event_loop.play_stream(input_stream_id.clone()).unwrap();
+    event_loop.play_stream(output_stream_id.clone()).unwrap();
 
     // Run the event loop on a separate thread.
     std::thread::spawn(move || {
diff --git a/examples/record_wav.rs b/examples/record_wav.rs
index ad5fd5f..f7aa019 100644
--- a/examples/record_wav.rs
+++ b/examples/record_wav.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ fn main() {
     let event_loop = cpal::EventLoop::new();
     let stream_id = event_loop.build_input_stream(&device, &format)
         .expect("Failed to build input stream");
-    event_loop.play_stream(stream_id);
+    event_loop.play_stream(stream_id).unwrap();
 
     // The WAV file we're recording to.
     const PATH: &'static str = concat!(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"), "/recorded.wav");
diff --git a/src/alsa/mod.rs b/src/alsa/mod.rs
index de5e691..43a3191 100644
--- a/src/alsa/mod.rs
+++ b/src/alsa/mod.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ use BuildStreamError;
 use DefaultFormatError;
 use DeviceNameError;
 use Format;
+use PauseStreamError;
+use PlayStreamError;
 use SupportedFormatsError;
 use SampleFormat;
 use SampleRate;
@@ -837,13 +839,15 @@ impl EventLoop {
     }
 
     #[inline]
-    pub fn play_stream(&self, stream_id: StreamId) {
+    pub fn play_stream(&self, stream_id: StreamId) -> Result<(), PlayStreamError> {
         self.push_command(Command::PlayStream(stream_id));
+        Ok(())
     }
 
     #[inline]
-    pub fn pause_stream(&self, stream_id: StreamId) {
+    pub fn pause_stream(&self, stream_id: StreamId) -> Result<(), PauseStreamError> {
         self.push_command(Command::PauseStream(stream_id));
+        Ok(())
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/coreaudio/mod.rs b/src/coreaudio/mod.rs
index a80d001..40ccf17 100644
--- a/src/coreaudio/mod.rs
+++ b/src/coreaudio/mod.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ use BuildStreamError;
 use DefaultFormatError;
 use DeviceNameError;
 use Format;
+use PauseStreamError;
+use PlayStreamError;
 use SupportedFormatsError;
 use Sample;
 use SampleFormat;
@@ -782,24 +784,34 @@ impl EventLoop {
         streams[stream_id.0] = None;
     }
 
-    pub fn play_stream(&self, stream: StreamId) {
+    pub fn play_stream(&self, stream: StreamId) -> Result<(), PlayStreamError> {
         let mut streams = self.streams.lock().unwrap();
         let stream = streams[stream.0].as_mut().unwrap();
 
         if !stream.playing {
-            stream.audio_unit.start().unwrap();
+            if let Err(e) = stream.audio_unit.start() {
+                let description = format!("{}", std::error::Error::description(e));
+                let err = BackendSpecificError { description };
+                return Err(err.into());
+            }
             stream.playing = true;
         }
+        Ok(())
     }
 
-    pub fn pause_stream(&self, stream: StreamId) {
+    pub fn pause_stream(&self, stream: StreamId) -> Result<(), PauseStreamError> {
         let mut streams = self.streams.lock().unwrap();
         let stream = streams[stream.0].as_mut().unwrap();
 
         if stream.playing {
-            stream.audio_unit.stop().unwrap();
+            if let Err(e) = stream.audio_unit.stop() {
+                let description = format!("{}", std::error::Error::description(e));
+                let err = BackendSpecificError { description };
+                return Err(err.into());
+            }
             stream.playing = false;
         }
+        Ok(())
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/emscripten/mod.rs b/src/emscripten/mod.rs
index 1138a39..b828f7f 100644
--- a/src/emscripten/mod.rs
+++ b/src/emscripten/mod.rs
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ use DefaultFormatError;
 use DeviceNameError;
 use DevicesError;
 use Format;
+use PauseStreamError;
+use PlayStreamError;
 use SupportedFormatsError;
 use StreamData;
 use SupportedFormat;
@@ -147,23 +149,25 @@ impl EventLoop {
     }
 
     #[inline]
-    pub fn play_stream(&self, stream_id: StreamId) {
+    pub fn play_stream(&self, stream_id: StreamId) -> Result<(), PlayStreamError> {
         let streams = self.streams.lock().unwrap();
         let stream = streams
             .get(stream_id.0)
             .and_then(|v| v.as_ref())
             .expect("invalid stream ID");
         js!(@{stream}.resume());
+        Ok(())
     }
 
     #[inline]
-    pub fn pause_stream(&self, stream_id: StreamId) {
+    pub fn pause_stream(&self, stream_id: StreamId) -> Result<(), PauseStreamError> {
         let streams = self.streams.lock().unwrap();
         let stream = streams
             .get(stream_id.0)
             .and_then(|v| v.as_ref())
             .expect("invalid stream ID");
         js!(@{stream}.suspend());
+        Ok(())
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 6b1f6cd..2a273bb 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -382,6 +382,36 @@ pub enum BuildStreamError {
     }
 }
 
+/// Errors that might occur when calling `play_stream`.
+///
+/// As of writing this, only macOS may immediately return an error while calling this method. This
+/// is because both the alsa and wasapi backends only enqueue these commands and do not process
+/// them immediately.
+#[derive(Debug, Fail)]
+pub enum PlayStreamError {
+    /// See the `BackendSpecificError` docs for more information about this error variant.
+    #[fail(display = "{}", err)]
+    BackendSpecific {
+        #[fail(cause)]
+        err: BackendSpecificError,
+    }
+}
+
+/// Errors that might occur when calling `pause_stream`.
+///
+/// As of writing this, only macOS may immediately return an error while calling this method. This
+/// is because both the alsa and wasapi backends only enqueue these commands and do not process
+/// them immediately.
+#[derive(Debug, Fail)]
+pub enum PauseStreamError {
+    /// See the `BackendSpecificError` docs for more information about this error variant.
+    #[fail(display = "{}", err)]
+    BackendSpecific {
+        #[fail(cause)]
+        err: BackendSpecificError,
+    }
+}
+
 /// An iterator yielding all `Device`s currently available to the system.
 ///
 /// Can be empty if the system does not support audio in general.
@@ -522,7 +552,7 @@ impl EventLoop {
     /// If the stream does not exist, this function can either panic or be a no-op.
     ///
     #[inline]
-    pub fn play_stream(&self, stream: StreamId) {
+    pub fn play_stream(&self, stream: StreamId) -> Result<(), PlayStreamError> {
         self.0.play_stream(stream.0)
     }
 
@@ -537,7 +567,7 @@ impl EventLoop {
     /// If the stream does not exist, this function can either panic or be a no-op.
     ///
     #[inline]
-    pub fn pause_stream(&self, stream: StreamId) {
+    pub fn pause_stream(&self, stream: StreamId) -> Result<(), PauseStreamError> {
         self.0.pause_stream(stream.0)
     }
 
@@ -789,6 +819,18 @@ impl From<BackendSpecificError> for BuildStreamError {
     }
 }
 
+impl From<BackendSpecificError> for PlayStreamError {
+    fn from(err: BackendSpecificError) -> Self {
+        PlayStreamError::BackendSpecific { err }
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<BackendSpecificError> for PauseStreamError {
+    fn from(err: BackendSpecificError) -> Self {
+        PauseStreamError::BackendSpecific { err }
+    }
+}
+
 // If a backend does not provide an API for retrieving supported formats, we query it with a bunch
 // of commonly used rates. This is always the case for wasapi and is sometimes the case for alsa.
 //
diff --git a/src/null/mod.rs b/src/null/mod.rs
index dc41f77..c7e4cb7 100644
--- a/src/null/mod.rs
+++ b/src/null/mod.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ use DefaultFormatError;
 use DevicesError;
 use DeviceNameError;
 use Format;
+use PauseStreamError;
+use PlayStreamError;
 use SupportedFormatsError;
 use StreamData;
 use SupportedFormat;
@@ -42,12 +44,12 @@ impl EventLoop {
     }
 
     #[inline]
-    pub fn play_stream(&self, _: StreamId) {
+    pub fn play_stream(&self, _: StreamId) -> Result<(), PlayStreamError> {
         panic!()
     }
 
     #[inline]
-    pub fn pause_stream(&self, _: StreamId) {
+    pub fn pause_stream(&self, _: StreamId) -> Result<(), PauseStreamError> {
         panic!()
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/wasapi/stream.rs b/src/wasapi/stream.rs
index ae13c26..b8070a4 100644
--- a/src/wasapi/stream.rs
+++ b/src/wasapi/stream.rs
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ use std::sync::atomic::Ordering;
 use BackendSpecificError;
 use BuildStreamError;
 use Format;
+use PauseStreamError;
+use PlayStreamError;
 use SampleFormat;
 use StreamData;
 use UnknownTypeOutputBuffer;
@@ -642,13 +644,15 @@ impl EventLoop {
     }
 
     #[inline]
-    pub fn play_stream(&self, stream: StreamId) {
+    pub fn play_stream(&self, stream: StreamId) -> Result<(), PlayStreamError> {
         self.push_command(Command::PlayStream(stream));
+        Ok(())
     }
 
     #[inline]
-    pub fn pause_stream(&self, stream: StreamId) {
+    pub fn pause_stream(&self, stream: StreamId) -> Result<(), PauseStreamError> {
         self.push_command(Command::PauseStream(stream));
+        Ok(())
     }
 
     #[inline]