diff --git a/helpers.py b/helpers.py
index 2a993c0..a502198 100644
--- a/helpers.py
+++ b/helpers.py
@@ -624,10 +624,17 @@ def musicgpt_queue_stems(rid, audio_url, stems=None):
     }
     try:
         resp = requests.post(url, data=payload, headers={"Authorization": get_musicgpt_api_key()}, timeout=30)
-        data = resp.json()
+        try:
+            data = resp.json()
+        except Exception:
+            return None, None, None, f"HTTP {resp.status_code}: {resp.text[:300]}"
         if resp.status_code == 200 and data.get("success"):
             return data.get("task_id"), data.get("conversion_id"), data.get("credit_estimate"), None
-        return None, None, None, data.get("error") or f"HTTP {resp.status_code}"
+        # Capture as much detail as possible from the error response.
+        error_msg = data.get("error") or data.get("message") or f"HTTP {resp.status_code}"
+        if data.get("details"):
+            error_msg += f" — {data['details']}"
+        return None, None, None, error_msg
     except Exception as e:
         return None, None, None, str(e)