I hate it when websites try to take over your machine with a) music, and b) ads, and c) flying moving windows. Grrrr.... Just because you can doesn't mean you should. My 2 cents.
In my humble opinion I prefer no music. Always a touch embarrassing when on the net at work looking up none work related things and music starts blasting alerting all that you aren't doing the wrong thing. At that stage all you can do is smile and pretend it never happened. Hope this helps! :-)
Without.. if I want music on I will listen to my own. If I am already listening to some and then some other music just comes on when I don't want it to.. well that's just annoying.
without but...
if you really feel it's necessary you could have it muted when a visitor arrives and a button to unmute, so that way they can decide if they want to hear it or not.
A music player can be a nice touch to a site - especially a music related one but never, ever have an autoplaying music player, especially not if it's a MIDI loop.
It's rude, it's 90's and bad netiquette.
However if you have a piece of music that really fits, a small unobtrusive audio player that has play and pause, with volume control.
Any media auto-playing on a web page, be it music or video, is a very bad idea. You ever open a bunch of tabs and suddenly there's a noise and you have to play "hunt the fucktarded web designer" and go through all the tabs trying to locate it to turn it off? Very bad idea!
Absolutely, positively, without a doubt, NO. Ever opened a link while at work, only to have music (or other audio) start blaring through your computer speakers, effectively announcing to everyone in the office what you're doing? This is one reason I leave my headphones plugged in 100% of the time. (Some of the processes I do in my job leave me with 10-15 minutes to wait while the computer is working...might as well surf during that time)
Sure, bring it on! For those that like it, it enhances their experience. For those that don't, they have the option to hit the mute button. There. Everyone's happy.
NO. If I want music, I listen to music...When I go to a webpage I want visuals and/or information. Unless, of course, it's YouTube and the music is essential.
Yes, I guess, since it doesn't really matter if I don't like it I can always mute it! Besides, there's no need to have the volume all the way up anyway.
I don't like music that blares out at me when I enter a web site. Sometimes, I like optional music that you can turn off, if you don't like the music. I sometimes leave a site that has music playing. If you have music, I suggest you include a mute button.
no
i did a lot of wedding planning at work...and when i went to a vendor's page, i had to make sure my speakers weren't on
also, sometimes it takes the page longer to load with the music
About a year ago I bought some really good, royalty-free music, in preparation for my new website (the one that just went live, finally), but I didn't use it. I've been toying with the idea, but I am also one of those people who don't like auto-playing music when I am looking at websites. I have been to a couple of sites where it actually worked very well, but they are in the minority and, I think, still would not have appealed to most visitors.
Where it is good, is with slideshows for in-person sales. Using Pro Show Gold or the like, the right music can help form an emotional attachment to the images, and increase sales. A dirty trick, maybe, but hey - I have a business to run.
Without.
I'm one of those people that closes a site immediately when unsolicited music starts to play, regardless of the interest I have in that site. I think people should have a choice whether to listen to music or not.
NO! Hate it with a passion. I think with photography everyone can look at a picture and get something different from it. Nothing worse than having a feeling about a pic that doesn't 'match' the music, or feeling lead by the music,
I would say that music rarely enhances photographic websites as most of the time the music is like the stuff you get in lifts. Its a distraction from the real attention, lift music is designed to put you at ease and take your mind off where you are though being totally boring.
Now that said I have come across a few sites where the music actually enhanced the site but these are few and far between.
As both a musician and someone who has been project managed web-site design processes - no, no and emphatic no. The only exception is custom sound design for flash or video. But in the context of a photography site, it's rare that sound design is appropriate.
Define music===seems like some music is on purpose, and then some is accidental but still called music. Music is only defined by the ear of the listener.
I am really dating my self now, but when (Hi-FI) came out my dad would say that it hurt in both ears at the same time. Then came stereo, then came surround sound, and sometimes there is silence ahhhhhhhhhh
hate music on a web page .... quality is usually inferior and intrudes. If I want music I'll put on something that I like, not something that is forced upon me!!
I think it depends on the music, the website and also the mood you are in when you view it. I do prefer it when you can mute the music but if not there is always the volume control. The only thing I can think when it would be a real problem is if you were at work viewing something and didn't know that music was going to come on and blast out.
Music lets your office mates realize that you are not working but searching the internet. Most websites with music play really loudly and it takes a while to find the mute button. Also thinks it slows the speed down.
I like certain types of music on websites. Blogs...not so much. I agree that the mute button is usually hard to find and when I am surfing late at night it is not good. Waking up a sleepy family is no fun.
I completely agree with the no's. My sister had mentioned music on my photography website and I declined because I know it's intrusive and has the possibility to take away from the photo. The music I may set to a photo may not match one's view. It is better to leave it in silence.
No music! I dislike music on webpages in general (unless it's a recording artist or band or something) because I will usually have my own music playing while I am browsing.
Depends. If you are going to be show casing an option of a slide show with music then I do not see an issue with it. If you are just showing pictures then no music should be added as it may take away from the experience. IMHO.
Noooo. Don't do it. I search and search trying to find the off button on those pages and if I can't, I don't go back. You can't pick music everyone will like and often I'm not in a place where I want the computer to start playing something.
No, but I do like it when someone has music available to accompany the photos. Something that in the artist's mind adds the right atmosphere. But it should be optional, not playing first and allowing you to turn it off.
Wow, glad i saw this thread.. I was considering adding music to my site too x.X;;
Altho if i add-in a slideshow feature i still feel like music would be a nice touch.. Optional ofc prob with a dialog for y/n etc
It'd be a no from me. I have my sound off because I find it too annoying, only turning it on when I am on a site that I want/need to listen to. Even then i use ear plugs - there's far too much noise in my house already without adding to it!
No. If I happen upon a site with music that plays I will always mute it and I tend to not focus on what I came there to see. The only thing I do like, is if I specifically click on something (like a photobook or video) and that is set to music...that's OK. But remember music is very personal and you wouldn't want to turn someone off just by the music you selected.
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if you really feel it's necessary you could have it muted when a visitor arrives and a button to unmute, so that way they can decide if they want to hear it or not.
A music player can be a nice touch to a site - especially a music related one but never, ever have an autoplaying music player, especially not if it's a MIDI loop.
It's rude, it's 90's and bad netiquette.
However if you have a piece of music that really fits, a small unobtrusive audio player that has play and pause, with volume control.
No music. Sorry, its just really quite annoying.
http://www.zombo.com/
alright, it seemed like am the only one who likes it.. hahahha well because most of my works inspiration are from music.. =p
I cannot stand music that autoplays - I have a Flash music player which the user can choose to switch on, if they want to hear my playing...
You can have a look at it here, if you're interested... ;)
i did a lot of wedding planning at work...and when i went to a vendor's page, i had to make sure my speakers weren't on
also, sometimes it takes the page longer to load with the music
Where it is good, is with slideshows for in-person sales. Using Pro Show Gold or the like, the right music can help form an emotional attachment to the images, and increase sales. A dirty trick, maybe, but hey - I have a business to run.
I'm one of those people that closes a site immediately when unsolicited music starts to play, regardless of the interest I have in that site. I think people should have a choice whether to listen to music or not.
If it''s worth staying on the page Fn+F8 :-)
On the other hand if I've got the browser set to a radio station as well I'm gone!
Now that said I have come across a few sites where the music actually enhanced the site but these are few and far between.
I am really dating my self now, but when (Hi-FI) came out my dad would say that it hurt in both ears at the same time. Then came stereo, then came surround sound, and sometimes there is silence ahhhhhhhhhh
Altho if i add-in a slideshow feature i still feel like music would be a nice touch.. Optional ofc prob with a dialog for y/n etc