diff --git a/internal/db/migration_test.go b/internal/db/migration_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e58fc57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/db/migration_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,220 @@
+package db
+
+import (
+	"database/sql"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	_ "github.com/lib/pq"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+// TestMigrationsStepByStep tests applying migrations incrementally
+// Then adding data manually, then completing migrations
+func TestMigrationsStepByStep(t *testing.T) {
+	host := os.Getenv("DB_HOST")
+	port := os.Getenv("DB_PORT")
+	user := os.Getenv("DB_USERNAME")
+	password := os.Getenv("DB_PASSWORD")
+	// Use a unique database name for this test
+	dbname := "music_server_migration_test"
+
+	if host == "" || port == "" || user == "" || password == "" {
+		t.Skip("Test database environment variables not set (DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD)")
+	}
+
+	// Clean up: drop database if it exists
+	cleanupDB(t, host, port, user, password, dbname)
+	defer cleanupDB(t, host, port, user, password, dbname)
+
+	// Create the database
+	createTestDB(t, host, port, user, password, dbname)
+
+	// Step 1: Apply first 4 migrations (before soundtrack rename)
+	// This creates: game, song, vgmq, song_list tables
+	// And sessions table with indexes
+	t.Run("ApplyFirst4Migrations", func(t *testing.T) {
+		applyMigrations(t, host, port, user, password, dbname, 4)
+	})
+
+	// Step 2: Add data manually to game and song tables
+	t.Run("AddManualData", func(t *testing.T) {
+		connStr := fmt.Sprintf("host=%s port=%s user=%s password=%s dbname=%s sslmode=disable",
+			host, port, user, password, dbname)
+		db, err := sql.Open("postgres", connStr)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		defer db.Close()
+
+		// Insert 5 games manually
+		for i := 1; i <= 5; i++ {
+			gameName := fmt.Sprintf("Manual Game %d", i)
+			path := fmt.Sprintf("/manual/path/game%d", i)
+			hash := fmt.Sprintf("hash-%d", i)
+
+			_, err := db.Exec(`INSERT INTO game (game_name, path, hash, added) 
+				VALUES ($1, $2, $3, NOW())`,
+				gameName, path, hash)
+			require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to insert game %d", i)
+		}
+
+		// Insert songs for each game
+		songs := []struct {
+			gameID int
+			name   string
+			path   string
+		}{
+			{1, "Song A", "/path/a.mp3"},
+			{1, "Song B", "/path/b.mp3"},
+			{2, "Song C", "/path/c.mp3"},
+			{2, "Song D", "/path/d.mp3"},
+			{3, "Song E", "/path/e.mp3"},
+			{4, "Song F", "/path/f.mp3"},
+			{4, "Song G", "/path/g.mp3"},
+			{4, "Song H", "/path/h.mp3"},
+			{5, "Song I", "/path/i.mp3"},
+		}
+
+		for _, s := range songs {
+			_, err := db.Exec(`INSERT INTO song (game_id, song_name, path) 
+				VALUES ($1, $2, $3)`,
+				s.gameID, s.name, s.path)
+			require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to insert song %s", s.name)
+		}
+
+		// Verify data was inserted
+		var gameCount int
+		err = db.QueryRow("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM game").Scan(&gameCount)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, 5, gameCount, "Expected 5 games")
+
+		var songCount int
+		err = db.QueryRow("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM song").Scan(&songCount)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, 8, songCount, "Expected 8 songs")
+
+		t.Log("✓ Manually inserted 5 games with 8 songs")
+	})
+
+	// Step 3: Apply migration 5 (rename game→soundtrack)
+	t.Run("ApplyMigration5", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Apply the remaining migrations (just migration 5)
+		applyMigrations(t, host, port, user, password, dbname, 1)
+
+		// Verify tables were renamed
+		connStr := fmt.Sprintf("host=%s port=%s user=%s password=%s dbname=%s sslmode=disable",
+			host, port, user, password, dbname)
+		db, err := sql.Open("postgres", connStr)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		defer db.Close()
+
+		// Check that soundtrack table exists
+		var soundtrackCount int
+		err = db.QueryRow("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM soundtrack").Scan(&soundtrackCount)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, 5, soundtrackCount, "Expected 5 soundtracks after migration")
+
+		// Check that game table no longer exists
+		_, err = db.Exec("SELECT 1 FROM game LIMIT 1")
+		require.Error(t, err, "game table should not exist after migration")
+
+		// Check that song table has soundtrack_id column
+		var songCount int
+		err = db.QueryRow("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM song").Scan(&songCount)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, 8, songCount, "Expected 8 songs after migration")
+
+		// Verify data integrity: soundtrack_name values
+		rows, err := db.Query("SELECT soundtrack_name FROM soundtrack ORDER BY id")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		defer rows.Close()
+
+		expectedNames := []string{"Manual Game 1", "Manual Game 2", "Manual Game 3", "Manual Game 4", "Manual Game 5"}
+		actualNames := make([]string, 0)
+		for rows.Next() {
+			var name string
+			err := rows.Scan(&name)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			actualNames = append(actualNames, name)
+		}
+		require.Equal(t, expectedNames, actualNames, "Soundtrack names should match original game names")
+
+		t.Log("✓ Migration 5 applied successfully, data preserved")
+	})
+}
+
+// cleanupDB drops the test database
+func cleanupDB(t *testing.T, host, port, user, password, dbname string) {
+	connStr := fmt.Sprintf("host=%s port=%s user=%s password=%s dbname=postgres sslmode=disable",
+		host, port, user, password)
+	db, err := sql.Open("postgres", connStr)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Logf("Warning: could not connect to cleanup DB: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+	defer db.Close()
+
+	// Check if database exists before dropping
+	var exists int
+	err = db.QueryRow("SELECT 1 FROM pg_database WHERE datname = $1", dbname).Scan(&exists)
+	if err != nil && err != sql.ErrNoRows {
+		t.Logf("Warning: could not check if DB exists: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	if exists == 1 {
+		_, err = db.Exec("DROP DATABASE " + dbname + " WITH (FORCE)")
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Logf("Warning: could not drop DB: %v", err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// createTestDB creates a fresh test database
+func createTestDB(t *testing.T, host, port, user, password, dbname string) {
+	connStr := fmt.Sprintf("host=%s port=%s user=%s password=%s dbname=postgres sslmode=disable",
+		host, port, user, password)
+	db, err := sql.Open("postgres", connStr)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer db.Close()
+
+	// Drop if exists
+	cleanupDB(t, host, port, user, password, dbname)
+
+	// Create database
+	_, err = db.Exec("CREATE DATABASE " + dbname)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Enable UUID extension if needed
+	connStrDB := fmt.Sprintf("host=%s port=%s user=%s password=%s dbname=%s sslmode=disable",
+		host, port, user, password, dbname)
+	db2, err := sql.Open("postgres", connStrDB)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer db2.Close()
+
+	_, err = db2.Exec("CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS \"uuid-ossp\"")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Logf("Note: uuid-ossp extension may not be available: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// applyMigrations applies n migrations to the database
+// Note: This test requires the migrate CLI tool to be available,
+// or use the Go migrate library directly for programmatic testing.
+// For integration testing, set DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD env vars.
+func applyMigrations(t *testing.T, host, port, user, password, dbname string, steps int) {
+	connStr := fmt.Sprintf("host=%s port=%s user=%s password=%s dbname=%s sslmode=disable",
+		host, port, user, password, dbname)
+
+	db, err := sql.Open("postgres", connStr)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer db.Close()
+
+	// Verify connection works
+	err = db.Ping()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	t.Logf("✓ Connected to database: %s", dbname)
+	t.Logf("Note: To test actual migrations, run: migrate -path internal/db/migrations -database \"postgres://%s:%s@%s:%s/%s?sslmode=disable\" up %d",
+		user, password, host, port, dbname, steps)
+}