Using Music on your ProBoard

[Artemis]

Many sites, regardless of their type, have added play lists or other forms of music players to their sites. These players sometimes consist of music that is either picked out by the staff team themselves, or music that the members were able to state that they would like to hear.

While the idea of having a music player on a site can be considered a great idea, especially if it increases a person’s muse or writing ability, there are some drawbacks to the idea. Sometimes, when the person creating the play list isn’t familiar with site that they’re getting the player from, they’re more likely to put the player on the default settings, which can sometimes include auto play. This simple error can cause issues with not only members but potential members and guests as well. Not only does the music interfere with any music the guest or member might be listening to, it also can turn them away if it’s something they don’t like. For example, Jane Doe might visit a Harry Potter forum and hear Metallica, which isn’t something she likes so instead of joining, she closes out of the site. And so in this case, the member is turned away from the other aspects the site might hold, and the site loses out on another member. It’s a lose/lose situation for both in this case.

Having music players on a site, however, can have some good aspects. If used properly on a roleplaying site, it can help the roleplayer‘s ability to connect with their character if they‘re allowed to give input as to what music would be on the player. If it‘s set to not automatically play every time the page is loaded, then it‘s more likely that no one can get upset by it, and the staff team won‘t have to deal with the increased irritation of members and potential members. Either way though, music players can help and/or destroy a site.

What are your opinions on this subject?

[HoudiniDerek]

I hate music on a forum, even if it is about a band and they are playing the music. I think that there should be designated areas for that and it should be optional for each member if they even want to have the music player show. I have rated too many forums where the music player didn't work or didn't load properly and that made it harder to rate because it created errors on the page.

I have been on forums where it fit the theme and such, but I still find it useless. I think that just because a certain style of music might go with the theme for one person, it is not the case for everyone. On one forum I frequent, we had a game section. In that section, the music from the game show that was similar was played. It was okay at first, but it became repetitive and annoying, so the staff got rid of it.

Unless there is a way to guarantee that it will not slow your forum and if you can keep it relevant and new enough that it won't became boring, then I say that music on your forum is probably going to do more harm than good.

[Man in Black]

I think having a player that is on auto is a mistake. I have literally had my freakin' heart to stop late at night when I've stumbled across a board or site that has a really loud song to start and shock me out of my chair.

I have a small playlist at the very bottom of my forum and encourage members to make requests, but I don't ever have it on auto and it doesn't seem to slow anything down the way I have it set up.

[itzybitzylion]

I think that playlist are helpful. As long as you allow the members to have a say in the music type and don't set it to Auto. If you are going to have music it should match your form... If it doesn't it just is pointless because no-one wants to listen to a useless song and it drives them away. And while I agree about the muse thing if it's set to something that the members don't prefer than it ruins that possibility of it being "Helpful." SO I would say they need to be used at a minimum.

[viruszero]

May 27, 2009 7:13:55 GMT -8 HoudiniDerek said:

I hate music on a forum, even if it is about a band and they are playing the music. I think that there should be designated areas for that and it should be optional for each member if they even want to have the music player show.

Quite so. I mean in the band forum example there may well be members who aren't quite that in to the band as much as others and so they become tired of always hearing the same music. And if there is an autoplay... it might become bothersome if they're listening to their own music and the autoplay keeps interrupting as they change pages. This may well cause that person to quit the forum, even if they really like some of the other aspects of the forum.

May 27, 2009 7:13:55 GMT -8 HoudiniDerek said:

I think that just because a certain style of music might go with the theme for one person, it is not the case for everyone.

Most certainly, many have different tastes and it'd be quite difficult to please everyone. Even with requests it might be too difficult because if A likes metal but hates country, and B hates metal but loves country... Then you have to decide which member's choices you honour. And that can lead to strife amongst the members.

May 27, 2009 7:13:55 GMT -8 HoudiniDerek said:

Unless there is a way to guarantee that it will not slow your forum and if you can keep it relevant and new enough that it won't became boring, then I say that music on your forum is probably going to do more harm than good.

This is why I think that if someone really wants music there are alternative appropriate channels to fulfill it. Such as internet radio, youtube or whatever streaming music site you wish. But having music on the forums is a bad idea, the nuisance and troubles generated simply are not worth the meager benefits they may offer. And even more so if the person messes up the code used to implement the music and ends up causing problems for their site. (Which seems to be a frequent occurance.)

[Nacku]

I had a midi on one of mine but took it down after the page took forever to load.

[rackvin]

A site which automatically plays music is a huge, huge turn off. If I go to a site and music starts playing on its own, I will not look at it for another second. The loading time is one of the main reasons. Having a playlist is alright as long as it doesn't do anything until you press play, but still I'd say unless it is a site specifically about music, leave it out.

[jadw2k9]

My biggest gripe with a site that plays music is when I am listening to music on iTunes and it interferes with that. What's more annoying is when it's in a Flash player and there's no easy way to disable it.

However, if the music has the purpose of giving the site a theme or atmosphere (e.g. creepy music for a site that's meant to feel creepy), it can be turned off easily, and it's not autoplaying on every single page, then I don't see it as a problem.

Having music players on a site, however, can have some good aspects. If used properly on a roleplaying site, it can help the roleplayer‘s ability to connect with their character if they‘re allowed to give input as to what music would be on the player.

I see where you're coming from an it can be a good idea provided this is what the users of the site want. It certainly needs an on/off button and possible a cookie or something to remember whether the user wants it on or off.

Another issue with music on a site that hasn't been addressed here would be copyright permissions. Could one put a band's music on their site or do they need permission from the producer/band?

[Des]

In my opinion, this is a bad idea for the following reasons:

- Loads of people already listen to music and this music may just interfere with the music they are already listening to, which may annoy them enough to not want to come back to your forum again.
- It seriously slows down loading times for very little added benefits. For eg. I never even have my speakers on when visiting forums so I'd never even know if the music was playing and I probably wouldn't be too happy with it if I did know, since the music may suddenly blare. (For someone who uses the computer often with other people sleeping or resting in the same room, this is just a problem)
- The music provider may have some kind of pop-ups or stuff which may annoy people who are trying to see your forum.
- When it doesn't even match the theme of the forum, what is it doing there? Just because you like the music doesn't mean anyone else will. Mostly this applies to the Jane Doe example type stuff that Artemis gave. I can understand putting the hedwig theme on a harry potter site. I cannot imagine going to a harry potter site and getting some music which I've never heard and would rather not really hear.

And music without an of/off button that autoplays every time you refresh the page...nightmare!

[gippaloo]

IMO music on the website is ok, as long as there is an option to turn it off....Some boards I visit have constant music playing with no option to stop it. THAT can get very annoying...

[D. Lawride]

I got many complaints about having music on my forum, so I adopted a small strategy. Because the player allows being used on another page, I created a specific section where the player is. Only there. I know, its wasting space. <.<
It had a good side, though. Because the players reset each time you change the page, you could now change the page without having the player, well, playing music all over again.
Because I'd say music has some good sides. In roleplaying forums, specifically, its great to have some background music adequate to the post you're writing.

[Artemis]

Jun 19, 2009 13:29:01 GMT -8 D. Lawride said:

I got many complaints about having music on my forum, so I adopted a small strategy. Because the player allows being used on another page, I created a specific section where the player is. Only there. I know, its wasting space. <.<
It had a good side, though. Because the players reset each time you change the page, you could now change the page without having the player, well, playing music all over again.
Because I'd say music has some good sides. In roleplaying forums, specifically, its great to have some background music adequate to the post you're writing.

Could it not be argued that people can use their own music just as well without using up their bandwidth for the music player, or using only the music that is selected to play for that website? I like listening to iTunes when I play games, roleplay, etc. and I tend to have varying playlists depending on what I'm doing, no doubt that differs for everyone.

Honestly, music on websites very rarely works, for me, anyway. For some it works very well, but I think the best thing to do is make the player unobtrusive, and to have it start playing only on the user's request.

[Crystal Pisces]

I think music on a forum is a big N-O. It can be annoying for some, ruin the codes or loading speed, and tons of other things I'm not wanting to list.

I say if you want to listen to music you can pull up iTunes, Youtube, Imeem, or anything else.

[Lii]

I dislike music on a forum. Personally, I'm always listening to my own music when I'm on the computer, and when I visit a forum that also has music playing, I leave without bothering to see if I can turn it off. Frankly, it's always struck me as superfluous. If someone wanted to listen to music then they could easily find it themselves; music that they actually like. However, if a person is so gung ho about having music on their forum, they should first make sure that it doesn't affect the loading speed, then they should have it set so it won't start playing unless they press play.

[Venomstrike]

I hate music on a forum. Especially the ones that have the auto start feature and they're located in the Global Footer, so whenever you go to a new page, the music starts playing again. It also slows down the loading time for a page a whole lot. Plus it is distracting, it takes up space, and is all together annoying. Some sites I have been on even have 2 or 3 playlists/music makers.