Should a photographers website groove?
I have gone back and forth as to if I should have music on my photography portfolio. I tend to think that it sets the mood of the website and makes the pictures more emotional but at the same time it could just be annoying. I am a website designer and I am always telling my clients that they should not have music on their websites although most of my clients would not benefit from having music on their websites. Unless something is happening when the music starts playing then there is no reason for it. Music for music’s sake is worthless on a website. In a slideshow it is valuable and warranted because the person viewing the slideshow clicked play. I always expect something more then movement when I click play. I am in the process of redesigning my photography website, it will all be in CSS and HTML so I will not be including music on each page. The reason for this is that each time you changed pages, the music would reload and start over. That would get annoying quick. I am going to have more slideshows available and they will have music set to them.
My reason for wanting to start this discussion is because we all have been to websites where the music has annoyed us. It either does not fit, does not fit what is going on or is just plain obnoxious music. My thoughts are that if you did not pick the right music then you could lose some of your visitors.
What are your thoughts when it comes to music on a photographers website? Yes or no? If so, where and under what conditions?
