Problem with sound

[Darko Ercegovic]

Hi,

I made my web site and put background music there. It woks nice when I
enter site from my own computer but there is no sound when it is opened
from any other computer.

Can you tell me what I did wrong?

<embed height="0" width="2"
src="http://www.omega3zona.hr/glazba/filename.mid" autostart="true"
loop="1" volume="80">

 

[Jonathan N. Little]

Hi,

I made my web site and put background music there. It woks nice when I
enter site from my own computer but there is no sound when it is opened
from any other computer.

Can you tell me what I did wrong?

<embed height="0" width="2"
src="http://www.omega3zona.hr/glazba/filename.mid" autostart="true"
loop="1" volume="80">

A few of countless examples

<http://www.cikmarketing.ca/all_blog_posts/why-background-music-makes-your-website-suck/>

<http://doodlekit.com/blog/entry/37742/why-you-should-avoid-background-music-on-your-website>

<http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-to-convince-a-client-their-site-doesnt-need-music>

 

[dorayme]

Hi,

I made my web site and put background music there. It woks nice when I
enter site from my own computer but there is no sound when it is opened
from any other computer.

Can you tell me what I did wrong?

<embed height="0" width="2"
src="http://www.omega3zona.hr/glazba/filename.mid" autostart="true"
loop="1" volume="80">

Instead, put the following link:

http://www.omega3zona.hr/glazba/

with a *prominent* note saying to open it in a new tab and to
select a tune and keep the tab in the browser while you browse
other tabs. Add for the sophisticated background music listener
that if he or she opens as many tabs as there are midi tunes in
your collection, he or she can have them all playing at once in
the background.

Consider adding various other midi tunes so that folk can compose
their own eclectic choruses.

Most films and documentaries have some some idiot lay down
totally inappropriate music to blare or tinkle in the background,
inappropriate mostly because no music is the most appropriate of
all. It happens with otherwise good films and documentaries.

Latest for me was the Australian national broadcaster's doco on
refugee boats. One of the saddest (because potentially so good)
from a while ago was Ken Burns's series on the American Civil
War. Ruined by the idiot let loose from the music department.

As for movies, don't get me going. There was a terrific battle at
the beginning of Gladiator with tons of super loud bangs and
whirrings and other sounds of battle. But no, this was not enough
for the idiot director or the music director. There had to be
some idiot loud music to compete with the rest!

 

[Jukka K. Korpela]

I made my web site and put background music there.

Others have explained why it's probably a bad idea, so I can focus on
technicalities.

It woks nice when I
enter site from my own computer but there is no sound when it is opened
from any other computer.

We can't test this on any computer, because you did not post a URL.

Can you tell me what I did wrong?

Maybe if you post a URL.

<embed height="0" width="2"
src="http://www.omega3zona.hr/glazba/filename.mid" autostart="true"
loop="1" volume="80">

That won't work anywhere, because there is no resource matching the URL
http://www.omega3zona.hr/glazba/filename.mid
(the server responds with 404 Not Found).

When I used my magical powers to find out URLs of recordings that you
have actually used, I found no problem in making them work on a web page
using the correct URLs.

If _some_ of the MIDIs don't work, maybe there's some data error in
them. Then you could contact the producers, which you must know,
directly or indirectly, as you have got the permissions from the
copyright owners to use their music. (Haven't you?)

 

[Darko Ercegovic]

Hi Jukka,

Let try to answer your dillemas:

Others have explained why it's probably a bad idea, so I can focus on
technicalities.

I have had idea that some people don't like background music. As far as
I have not enough knowledge to do this in an ordinary way I made two
paralel sites: one with music and another without and when someone want
to disable sound he/she is just put on the "muste" site. It is pretty
invisible to average visitor.

We can't test this on any computer, because you did not post a URL.

site URL is www.omega3zona.hr and all linked pages (if you don't press
mute icon).

Maybe if you post a URL.


That won't work anywhere, because there is no resource matching the URL
http://www.omega3zona.hr/glazba/filename.mid
(the server responds with 404 Not Found).

file name is yesterday.mid so really is programed is:

<embed height="0" width="2"
src="http://www.omega3zona.hr/glazba/yesterday.mid" autostart="true"
loop="1" volume="80">

When I used my magical powers to find out URLs of recordings that you
have actually used, I found no problem in making them work on a web page
using the correct URLs.
http://www.omega3zona.hr/glazba/yesterday.mid

If _some_ of the MIDIs don't work, maybe there's some data error in
them. Then you could contact the producers, which you must know,
directly or indirectly, as you have got the permissions from the
copyright owners to use their music. (Haven't you?)

I have no idea? I didn't ask for permision.

 

[Darko Ercegovic]

Hi Dorayme,

Thank you for your answer. I agree with you. As I have replied to Jukka,
I gave an option to disable sound:

"I have had idea that some people don't like background music. As far as
I have not enough knowledge to do this in an ordinary way I made two
parallel sites: one with music and another without. When someone want
to disable sound and press mute icon, he/she is just redirected to the
same page on the "mute" site. It is pretty invisible to average visitor."

I don't insist to have this music in the background but I am curious
what I did wrong.

Regards

Darko

 

[Darko Ercegovic]

OK, I can put an option to start music manually if someone wants to
listen, not to be started by default. Probably it will be better idea.
But, as I already mentioned here, it is not the main problem for me. The
problem is why it doesn't work.

Darko

 

[Jukka K. Korpela]

Let try to answer your dillemas:

I don't think it's me who has dilemmas here.

I have had idea that some people don't like background music.

Are you saying that you didn't read the helpful explanations? OK, here's
a short version, a personal one in order to be concrete. When I play
bridge on the net, I usually don't bother listening the optional flips
of cards or the music offered by the BBO server. Rather, I listen to
music on my computer, or sometimes online radio, or I keep the door open
and listen to birds when available. Now would you expect me to want to
music of _your_ taste jump into my ears when I, sitting as a dummy or
waiting for the next game to start, surf around web pages? If the answer
is not crystal clear, think about sitting in a concert and getting
disturbed by some sudden noise, with the excuse that I can switch it off
(if I guess correctly how to do that).

As far as
I have not enough knowledge to do this in an ordinary way I made two
paralel sites: one with music and another without

It might be interesting to measure their relative popularity, e.g. using
normal A/B testing.

and when someone want
to disable sound he/she is just put on the "muste" site.

It's easier to click on the "Back" button of the browser.

site URL is www.omega3zona.hr and all linked pages (if you don't press
mute icon).

So what _is_ the problem? The page opens with music starting (after a
short delay), both on Firefox and on IE. Did you perhaps test with
computers with sounds muted?

I have no idea? I didn't ask for permision.

Then you should immediately take the music away. If you are lucky, the
search engines of music companies have not yet detected your crime.

To put music on a web page, you need permissions from all people who
made a creative contribution to the music or played it and from the
companies that recorded it. Normally the music company, or a national
organization of copyright holders, is capable of granting you the
rights, as they have got the rights from the authors. But they will
hardly do that without getting some money from you.

And remember that just because someone uploaded some music onto Youtube
doesn't make it legal, and it doesn't make it legal to you to put that
music on your web page.

 

[Darko Ercegovic]

I don't think it's me who has dilemmas here.


Are you saying that you didn't read the helpful explanations? OK, here's
a short version, a personal one in order to be concrete. When I play
bridge on the net, I usually don't bother listening the optional flips
of cards or the music offered by the BBO server. Rather, I listen to
music on my computer, or sometimes online radio, or I keep the door open
and listen to birds when available. Now would you expect me to want to
music of _your_ taste jump into my ears when I, sitting as a dummy or
waiting for the next game to start, surf around web pages? If the answer
is not crystal clear, think about sitting in a concert and getting
disturbed by some sudden noise, with the excuse that I can switch it off
(if I guess correctly how to do that).

Look, you are right about cases you were mentioned. But if you have in
your mind that my web site is dedicated to people who have cancer and
that there are lot of information about what person can do when he/she
has some form of this disease then, I believe, he/she will carefully
read what is written on the site, or will not read it at all. So, this
web site is not for the person who is looking for a fun. On the other
hand when someone is deadly ill it can be helpful to listen some nice
music themes, just to help become more calm. That is how I look at this
situation.

It might be interesting to measure their relative popularity, e.g. using
normal A/B testing.

I agree.

It's easier to click on the "Back" button of the browser.


So what _is_ the problem? The page opens with music starting (after a
short delay), both on Firefox and on IE. Did you perhaps test with
computers with sounds muted?

I tried to reach my web site from my own computer and it worked
correctly every time it tried. But when I asked my friend to see my web
from his home, he told me that he didn't hear anything. After that I
checked my web site from few other computers and no one played music.

Then you should immediately take the music away. If you are lucky, the
search engines of music companies have not yet detected your crime.

To put music on a web page, you need permissions from all people who
made a creative contribution to the music or played it and from the
companies that recorded it. Normally the music company, or a national
organization of copyright holders, is capable of granting you the
rights, as they have got the rights from the authors. But they will
hardly do that without getting some money from you.

And remember that just because someone uploaded some music onto Youtube
doesn't make it legal, and it doesn't make it legal to you to put that
music on your web page.

Thanks for your warning.

 

[Darko Ercegovic]

On 11.7.2011. 13:24, Jukka K. Korpela wrote:

Thanks for your warning.

I have picked midi files for my web site from:

http://www.electrofresh.com/

Do you still think I must erase music from my web site?

 

[Jukka K. Korpela]

I have picked midi files for my web site from:

http://www.electrofresh.com/

Do you still think I must erase music from my web site?

Of course. I could declare all your property free, but do you think that
would give anyone the right to take anything he likes from you?

The lack of "About us" and "Credits" and "Licensing" is ominous.

 

[Jukka K. Korpela]

Look, you are right about cases you were mentioned. But if you have in
your mind that my web site is dedicated to people who have cancer

I don't see how that changes anything regarding background sounds on web
pages.

when someone is deadly ill it can be helpful to listen some nice
music themes, just to help become more calm.

Or make him angry, or frustrated, or sad. It's better to let each person
decide what music he wishes to listen to.

Background music may make sense when it has an essential connection with
the (other) content on the page. If your page were about the French
revolution, you might consider playing the Marseillaise - though even
this isn't clear-cut (and might be historically wrong e.g. if the page
actually discusses the early phases of the revolution).

I tried to reach my web site from my own computer and it worked
correctly every time it tried. But when I asked my friend to see my web
from his home, he told me that he didn't hear anything. After that I
checked my web site from few other computers and no one played music.

Without more information, it is impossible to say what the problem might
be. The <embed> tag, though "nonstandard" (except as being standardized
in the HTML5 drafts) is probably the safest way of embedding sound on a
web page. But maybe you can check whether the computers tested play
sounds _at all_ (e.g., by visiting YouTube on them).

 

[Doug Miller]

Look, you are right about cases you were mentioned. But if you have in
your mind that my web site is dedicated to people who have cancer and
that there are lot of information about what person can do when he/she
has some form of this disease then, I believe, he/she will carefully
read what is written on the site, or will not read it at all. So, this
web site is not for the person who is looking for a fun. On the other
hand when someone is deadly ill it can be helpful to listen some nice
music themes, just to help become more calm. That is how I look at this
situation.

You still don't understand. It doesn't matter *what* the purpose of your web
site is -- if I want to listen to "some nice music themes ... to help become
more calm" then I will *already* be listening to soothing music of *my*
choice. Not *your* choice.

 

[Allodoxaphobia]

I made my web site and put background music there. It woks nice when I
enter site from my own computer but there is no sound when it is opened
from any other computer.

Can you tell me what I did wrong?

You've done nothing wrong. That's JUST THE WAY I want it!

 

[cwdjrxyz]

Hi,

I made my web site and put background music there. It woks nice when I
enter site from my own computer but there is no sound when it is opened
from any other computer.

Can you tell me what I did wrong?

<embed height="0" width="2"
src="http://www.omega3zona.hr/glazba/filename.mid" autostart="true"
loop="1" volume="80">

It was easy enough to find where the midis are stored, and you have
about 14 selections to substitute for "filename" in the url you gave.
In fact all of my 8 browsers would play all of these midis by just
going to the url, but in that case they opened in their own page
rather than being embedded in another page. It requires some player
that will play a midi or other desired format, and quite a few
computers now come without a player that will handle midis installed.
However many of these allow installing a codec to make midis or
whatever is missing play. All of my browsers show a progress bar and
allow you to turn the midi off, but Opera, for one, does not. I find
that the browsers all have the QT Plug-in Version 7.6.9 installed for
them, since I have the QT player installed on my computer along with
several other players. Many browsers, especially Firefox and Opera,
allow you to disable a selected plugin, or enable it. Apparently QT is
very efficient in installing the plug-in for itself and will do so for
most browsers if you download QT. My Vista 64-bit OS computer has a
place where you can assign the primary player for various extensions
such as .midi. However when I assign the WMP, which has a codec for
playing midis, as primary for midis, they still play using the QT
player. There may be a way to overcome this in some obscure QT menu.
Most players other than QT that I have installed will respect your
assignment of a primary player for a selected extension. So I would
guess that others who do not hear your midis do not have a QT player
installed or any other players that come with a codec to play midis,
although many such players allow a codec to be installed.

I really have little interest in midis anymore since most sound so
mechanical to me and do not support vocals. They were very popular 10
years and more ago because they required much less bandwidth than more
realistic sounding formats. Then most had a slow dial-up connection.
Also, when midis were very popular even on commercial web sites, there
was a lawyer in California who searched for them on the web. If his
research turned up that there were not rights paid for a midi, he
would then contact the owner of the midi rights, and see if they
wanted to get some money for the use of their midi. Of course the
lawyer would get a nice profit for his service. But I have not heard
of such problems in recent years, likely because midis are seldom used
anymore by commercial sites, the owners of which might be milked for
enough money to be worth the lawyer's time. The rights issue is very
complex. In the US even a medium sized radio station may use a web
streaming service to keep track of the number of hits for every song
played and submit the totals and payments to a broadcast usage group
that sends payments to the correct places. There are services that
record covers of music and arrange for a single payment for unlimited
or limited usage. You buy a CD of this music and can use it on
websites, as spelled out in great detail. The cost may be very low to
very high depending on how recent and popular the music is and how you
intend to use it. If you want the latest and most popular song on your
web site, and especially if you are a commercial company with much
money, you need to get a good media lawyer that specializes in this.
Else you may be sued by artists, recording companies, music
publishers, and others for a very large amount. And you likely will
have to hire a very expensive media lawyer to represent you in a
federal court, often located in California.

 

[dorayme]

Hi Dorayme,
....
I don't insist to have this music in the background but I am curious
what I did wrong.

Perhaps check out

<http://htmlhelp.com/reference/html40/special/object.html>

<http://webdesign.about.com/od/sound/ht/htsound.htm>