MenuWare - HowTo: About Background Music

Can I add background music to my site?

This is a pretty common request because it seems like a neat way to add some personalization to your site. While it may seem like a good idea, we strongly encourage you not to add background music to your site. Here are the primary reasons:

It would make the page very slow loading for most users. Even with the fastest modems, it could take minutes to load your website, every time they hit the main page.
The song would start from the beginning with every hit to a new page. Most users spend an average of 10 seconds per page, meaning that they would only hear the fade in every time they move around your site.
Forcing background music interferes with users who are already listening to their own music while browsing.
The majority of web users strongly dislike forced background music, and over half will immediately leave a site that uses it, even if it's a site they want to visit.
The novelty wears off within a few listens to a piece of background music. You'll find that MenuWare sites have the "sticky" quality that keeps people coming back often, but most won't if there is background music.

With this said, we can add background music to your site, but it's important to realize that doing so will probably have the opposite effect that you intend, and that it falls under custom development ($50 fee). It's much better to offer a link to play your music (you can do this with the Freeform Files area). The users who want music can hear it, while those that don't are still happy.

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