Background Static - the musical question

Another little option I played around with up until a year ago is the use of background sounds - midis and wavs - on my web site.....the verdict....not a good idea

I have seen people literally jump out of their chairs when music suddenly started playing upon entering a site....not a good way to start a relationship with a visitor.

The feedback I recieved on the subject was that people will generally do one of two things when they hit a site that has background music

a) Turn down the sound

b) Leave immediately - cursing, yelling and planning your destruction as they go...

Music is such a personal thing that I guarantee whatever tune you are playing, it will offend someone.

And once again the everpresent monster....LOAD TIME...whatever bells and buzzers you add to your site will slow it down. From what I have been able to ascertain, you have 10 seconds at best for your page to be fully loaded.

There are exceptions to this rule. The online CV at www.simplicity.com.au relies heavily on music to create impact on the visitor... and it works... knocked my socks off, anyway.

If you really feel the need to have a background midi playing on your home page, just as in the case with Flash animations, give your guests a choice to switch it on or off. You may want to consider a javascript midi changer as well, to get some variety. These scripts can be accessed via my site.

About the teacher:
Written by Michael Bloch of Taming the Beast.net. Tutorials, web content, tools and software. Web Marketing, eCommerce & Internet solutions.