Turn down the volume or...
by nigel on 23-Feb-2011
.. are websites with Musak appropriate in a tabbed web browser world?
Musak being, in this instance, background music or the tunes that you hear interspersed with "you custom is important to us (but we can't be bothered to answer the phone)" when on hold to your utility company.
A lot of stores do Musak and for some strange reason a lot appear to allow their youngest, most disillusioned employee to bring in his favourite collection and play it. The are presumably aiming for a target audience that does not include me.
Eventually one matures to the point of discovering that almost every genre (except country and western) of music produces it classic pieces that will stand the test of time whilst the rest disappears into the dim and distant corners of the internet that gathers metaphorical cobwebs these days. But they don't get to choose the music in shops.
Of course some shops go to the opposite extreme and go for bland in such a big way that you are forced to run for the exit before your brain turns to mush.
As for hold musak on phones. I still vividly remember (I think) being on hold for a company that made a drawing application in the days before Windows 3 came out where the receptionist had put an album of "theme tunes from children's TV programs" in the player. It was so radically different listening to the Magic Roundabout (not the Jasper Carrot version!) that I commended them when I finally got through on their choice.
However their software did an idiot thing when you asked it to print a drawing and rather than address this they suggested we get the printer manufacturer to change the printer software. To solve the problem I had to write some code to sit between the two and make the world a better place.
Meanwhile the local Indian restaurant has a website and has apparently licensed Richard Clayderman to do a loop while you decide between a biryani or a madras.
So what happens when you open another site that also believes that annoying the browsee is a really good marketing move?
How do you choose complimentary sites?
How do you sync the tunes?
Is there a whole new world of opportunity for DJ mix artists out there?
Is it something that Armin van Buuren would like to progress towards?
Or should I just hit the mute button?
Silence is golden.
Musak being, in this instance, background music or the tunes that you hear interspersed with "you custom is important to us (but we can't be bothered to answer the phone)" when on hold to your utility company.
A lot of stores do Musak and for some strange reason a lot appear to allow their youngest, most disillusioned employee to bring in his favourite collection and play it. The are presumably aiming for a target audience that does not include me.
Eventually one matures to the point of discovering that almost every genre (except country and western) of music produces it classic pieces that will stand the test of time whilst the rest disappears into the dim and distant corners of the internet that gathers metaphorical cobwebs these days. But they don't get to choose the music in shops.
Of course some shops go to the opposite extreme and go for bland in such a big way that you are forced to run for the exit before your brain turns to mush.
As for hold musak on phones. I still vividly remember (I think) being on hold for a company that made a drawing application in the days before Windows 3 came out where the receptionist had put an album of "theme tunes from children's TV programs" in the player. It was so radically different listening to the Magic Roundabout (not the Jasper Carrot version!) that I commended them when I finally got through on their choice.
However their software did an idiot thing when you asked it to print a drawing and rather than address this they suggested we get the printer manufacturer to change the printer software. To solve the problem I had to write some code to sit between the two and make the world a better place.
Meanwhile the local Indian restaurant has a website and has apparently licensed Richard Clayderman to do a loop while you decide between a biryani or a madras.
So what happens when you open another site that also believes that annoying the browsee is a really good marketing move?
How do you choose complimentary sites?
How do you sync the tunes?
Is there a whole new world of opportunity for DJ mix artists out there?
Is it something that Armin van Buuren would like to progress towards?
Or should I just hit the mute button?
Silence is golden.