what do u think? annoying or can it add to the site? like if a tee site sold gothic tees and they had a gothic band playing on the home page? should there be the option to turn off any music?
I detest it! There's nowt worse than going to a site and suddenly having music blare out of the speakers. Most of it is bingley-bongley-beep midi files too, which are even worse.
Perhaps as an option, like 'click here to find out what we're listening to', but off by default.
I'd say no music. I don't turn my speakers on very often because I don't want to hear any of the boot up sounds, beeps etc. Then again, I am of the older generation.
There are so many reasons why, but here's the big ones:
1. It annoys your customers. 95% of the sites they visit don't have music, they won't expect it. If they happen to have the speakers turned up, it will blast them and they will freak out trying to figure out which browser window to close. And they will never, ever come back.
2. They may already be listening to music on their computer while surfing. I'm sure you've heard what happens when two different music files are trying to play at the same time.
3. You can't make everyone happy - no matter what kind of awesome song you pick, people's tastes in music are so varied that it's pretty much a sure thing that more people are going to dislike it than like it.
Lots more reasons, but I'll stop there.. you get the picture.
If you really must have music, here's a good example of a site that uses it effectively: yourfriendorfoe.com. Why does it work for them? Their t-shirts are all musically themed, so it's appropriate and somewhat expected. Most importantly, the music is OFF by default, and has to be turned on by the customer. Also, since the shirts all have a blues/soul/jazz theme, they have a pretty good idea of what kind of music their customers are into - AND they still offer more than one song choice, so the customer can pick something they like.
(and if yes, never ever on by default - not even on a band's website (the number of times I've gone to someone's website because I was already listening to them, only to have some other track of theirs start playing over the top...))
I immediately leave a site that has music playing automatically. I guess it is one of my pet peeves. If you want to have music, leave it as an option that the visitor has to turn on.
music on a website 
