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WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: February 13, 2003 Why Playing Music on your Web Site is a Bad Idea -- "With the proliferation of Flash, an increasing number of web sites have started to play music in the background, or more appropriately a few second long sound loops. Here are four reasons as to why playing music on your web site is a bad idea." (Comments: Boom Chugga Lugga, Boom Chugga Lugga, Boom Boom Booooom! How's that for music on WebWord?)
Reader Comments...
No, no , no ,no , no.... If you have a good reason for using music on your site then do it. I am getting tired of these silly 'rules' that are just based on uninformed prejudice. A final example of a brilliant use of sound—and for me a classic—is the underlying thump, thump, thump of the original Space Invaders game. Can you imagine this game without the Jaws-like creeping sound, constantly getting faster as you destroy more enemies? That insistent sound increases the tension and gets the heart pumping faster, adding to satisfactory game play.
But Mac, you said it yourself - "if you have a good reason for using music". Surely the article linked to here is aimed at those sites which DON'T have a good reason for using music, and therefore shouldn't be using music? And "because it's cool" or "because I like it" don't count as good reasons. Establishing an appropriate mood could count, as long as it doesn't interfere with other site aims. Personally speaking, I've never visited a site where background music enhanced the experience (apart from band sites where I know I'm going to like the music). The reason for this is that the music selected is almost always awful. Or am I just getting old? Posted by: Alan Fisher on February 14, 2003 04:26 AM
Mac - What's a good reason? I don't work much outside of B2B, and can't think of a single good reason to use sound on such a site. Posted by: Boyink on February 14, 2003 10:31 AM
Alan, I don't see any references in the article stating that it can *ever* be a good idea. I would like to propose that it is *never* a good idea to use Spiral Type What is a good reason? I built an application for a public touch-screen kiosk that used music as well as other sounds in 'idle' mode. It used different sounds at different times of the year as well as different times of the day. At night you might hear the sound of faint footsteps in the distance, or an owl hooting. Yes it was a bit cheesy, but it didn't get in the way of the 'experience' and actually attracted people to the kiosk. Posted by: Mac - Dont Attack Iraq on February 14, 2003 11:03 AM
My only comment there is that kiosks are not web sites, but I do agree with your basic point that there might be a good reason to have music on a website...I can't think of one though. As a side note, when I surf the web, I often listen to my own music. There is nothing more annoying than coming across a site trying to play music, that I didn't ask for, over my music. Usually I leave right away, but that's just me. Posted by: Thad on February 14, 2003 11:34 AM
I give the article a Thumbs Down because it failed to cite the most obvious reason not to use sound on web pages: Sound is unexpected. Use sound when the user has a reasonable expectation for it, or it is an opt-in situation (the user must activate the sound). Until I obtained a proxy to filter out web sounds, I kept my PC speakers turned off and I never played audio CDs because I never knew when a stupid web sound would pop up at maximum decibels and draw the undesired attention of my coworkers.
Just give your users what they want. I think the article is coming from the angle of 'you should not assume they want sound'. Basic article, but good common sense stuff for web design. Posted by: JB on February 14, 2003 01:04 PM
Mac - was the kiosk a web site, under the covers? Not seeing how that example relates. Totally different context of use than the mainstream web. Posted by: on February 14, 2003 01:57 PM
We did build a version of the kiosk that used http to deliver content into a customised browser. We used a touch-screen for user inout, which created some 'challenges' as the few touch-screen browsers that were around at that time were awful. So was it a mainstream 'web site'? What exactly are we talking about when we say 'web site'?
Music might be useful on a web site that is an online game. OR if there is a "theme song" that is closely tied to brand recognition. Posted by: Daniel Szuc on February 15, 2003 08:12 AM
Mainstream web site = pretty much *not* what you did. Not a customized browser, not a walled garden situation, not intended to be used in a public manner in a public context, available openly on the internet. Posted by: on February 15, 2003 11:20 AM
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