Today, I was browsing the interwebs for various reasons, and had my favorite chip tunes stream playing. Then, I went to this site that started playing this horrible death metal shit at 4 times the volume. After clicking out of that site, I felt the need to post this rant. So here goes....
11.5 reasons website should NOT play music
Reason 1: The Best
Look at commercial and successful websites: Google, Facebook, EBay, IMDB, The Pirates Bay... etc. Do they play music? Nope. Ever wondered why? Keep reading.
Reason 2: Music Tastes
Not everybody likes the music you listen to. For every person who comes to the site and likes it, there's someone who will leave in a fit of rage and never come back
Reason 3: Mixing
Your site's visitor may be listening to some nice music with headphones (me!). Then they click on your site, playing an awful death metal 'symphony' at 4 times the volume, making their ear drums explode. It takes less time to find that red 'x' in the corner than your stupid pause button. There goes another visitor
Reason 4: So Peaceful.... oh, never mind.
Somebody may be using their computer in a quiet setting, like work a coffee shop, or in bed with their wife sleeping next to them. Uh-oh, they forgot to mute their volume! Now they click on your site, and everybody in that work place or coffee shop is now staring at you. And you were just slapped by your wife.
Reason 5: ©
Do you have the rights to use this song on your site? Most likely not. Have fun when some man in a suit knocks on your door.
Reason 6: Multibrowsing
With multiple tab browsing, its easy to just open a bunch of search engine results in new tabs and look through them later. Well, when your site becomes one of those, the user is now frantically searching his tabs for your stupid site, and closing it.
Reason 7: Oh.... pretty...
"Oh, music makes my site look kool" Yeah, if you're relying on music to make your site interesting, better start redesigning.
Reason 8: Better know how to program
Lets assume you actually get a visitor who stays on your front page while the music plays. Amazingly he clicks a further link in your site! Now, how do you keep the audio track from stopping and starting again? Of course, you’ll be using a frame or iframe. Or your site is entirely Flash-based. Or both. Congratulations! You’ve just broken the back button and hindered the ability of search engines to find and index your site properly. In simpler terms, your site is fucked! =D
Reason 9: We need music!
"But this is a music website!" *sigh* .... EVER HEARD OF A FUCKING PLAY BUTTON?
Reason 10: Older browsers
Older computers using an older version of Internet Explorer or such may not have the compatibility to play that .mpeg file. That persons browser has now either locked up or crashed, and they will make sure to not return to your site.
Reason 11: Bandwidth isn't free
Having a single track or a music loop on your site will use up much more bandwidth than no music. Get ready for those extra bills!
Reason 11.5: Not my domain ;p
Using a free domain such as Enjin or Wix? Congrats, you'll soon learn that most website creating sites will limit your bandwidth. More than likely, the music will crash your site.
End rant.
This also carries over for advertisements with video or sound on a website. Hooray for ad block!
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