Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I hope everyone is well and that the New Year is still being good to you.I come to you today to announce a change to my blog. Perhaps for some it will be something to celebrate. For me, however, it is a bit sad. I have taken down the music player from this site.
Knowing me the way you do, you must expect that this would bother me some. For me, music is essential. It lifts up my spirits and carries me away. Where some require absolute silence in the morning until they have grown accustomed to the sun, I am quite the opposite. If the house were empty, I would immediately crank it up! With the music player, what I was hoping to do was to simply give the visitor an overall experience: this is me, this is what I write, these are my fellow writers and newest friends, and also this is the music which currently moves me.
Unfortunately, I have just come to realize that I might have been the only one who thought this was a good idea.
This past week on Wicked Writers, we spent the week discussing what we did and did not like about other people's websites. Can you guess what the consensus was? That’s right: kill the music! I can't be sore with my friends at Wicked Writers Headquarters; it turns out that my wife wasn’t a fan, either. In fact, even I must admit that the constant reloading each time I added a comment or navigated about the blog drove me a bit nuts as well. So, bowing to the whims of the masses, I have done exactly this.
Those who are older than I believe The Day The Music Died to be February 3, 1959, and they wouldn't be wrong. That was the terrible day that the plane which carried Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper crashed just shortly after takeoff, killing all aboard. Those closer to my age might think the day music died to be when AC/DC’s Bon Scott passed away, Led Zeppelin's John Bonham died, when Stevie Ray Vaughn’s helicopter crashed or perhaps when Freddie Mercury succumbed to bronchopneumonia resulting from AIDS. In the case of my wife, the day to have been when INXS’ Michael Hutchence’s body was discovered in that hotel room (and just what did happen that night, only God knows).
In any event, the music is gone. Perhaps when I am selling thousands of novels and I can break all of the rules that I want, I shall bring it back… It's a joke, folks.
On the other hand, if the removal of the music gets me more visitors, new followers and more comments, than I am all for it. Hopefully, it will, because I miss the music already and it’s only been a few minutes.
Take care and have a great weekend, everybody. I’ve got to go get my iPod now… ;)
We’ll talk soon.
I"m kinda torn on this one -- I got compliments on my music when I featured it on my website, but I'm finding lately, heading to others' websites that feature music can be a bit annoying as I try to watch trailers or something. Sigh -- thank goodness for iPhones and Pods!!
ReplyDeleteI think this was a smart idea! Music players slow everything down, which is a little frustrating when you have dozens of blogs to read.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, though, I love music. I didn't discover Queen until I was in high school and was extremely upset when I found out Freddie Mercury had died a decade ago.
Michael Jackson's death was a huge shock, too. He was my parents' age, so that was a little scary (though my parents lead a MUCH healthier lifestyle, haha).
Have a great weekend!!!
I think you did the right thing, although I know it sucks. I often listen to my own music when I blog surf, so each time I load a blog with music I have two songs coming at me at once. You know, you could do this: keep your player on your blog, but set it so that it doesn't play automatically. Visitors can read your music title selections to know what you like, and click play if they want to listen too.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Aww, Jimmy. I hate to see you down. I like Nicole D's suggestion. To have the player set at pause when people come to the site and they can choose to hit play. That sounds like the best of both worlds, no?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, Ladies. Truthfully it did bother me a bit; however, I knew it would do no one any good to be all twisted with this post; that would have made me look bad and alienated friends. And actually, while I was writing and editing the piece, I really did begin to see the other side, and not only that, but recall how irritating it was for me sometimes. In the end, I'm over it now. Seriously, the idea is to be welcoming, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteNicole - I have about 7000 songs on my 120GB iPod. Every Tuesday I can be found amongst iTunes, trolling for either the newest song or some forgotten oldie.
Laura - My wife and I were devastated when Freddie died. He allowed the world to hear that he had AIDS and the next day he was dead. It was all so sudden, but the rumors had swirled for years. You can still find me singing Queen songs. He was fantastic!
Nicole, C.J. - Thanks. No worries! I'm not ticked off or anything. I think I was looking through life with those rose-tinted glasses when it came to the player. There were really many times when it did interfere, even with me. We shall forget about it and soldier on.
Ladies, blessings and a good weekend to all of you.
I love music and like you listen to it whenever there's a quiet moment. That being said I'm always listening to music when I on the internet and having someone else's music chime in over my own gets to be a bit frustrating especially when it differs drastically and makes the site load slow so you can't find a way to turn it off. I think it wa a wise move. And I know some peeps still have manual players on the side.
ReplyDeleteI have always loved both Queen and Michael Jackson. I grew up with both so they are a strong part of my personality now.
Hello, Hannah. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you are having a great weekend so far. I guess I'll just have to get used to playing from my iTunes library whenever I'm plugged in. Having the song stop and another start whenever I moved around was never fun, either. In the long run it'll be better. At least that's what I'm hearing.
ReplyDeleteThanks again,
-Jimmy
I must say I'm thankful for sites without music, everyone have their own tastes in music, but I do understand your preference. At least you're thinking of your readers, and this is proof of your respect for them.
ReplyDeleteHi, Sarah. I was going to greet you with "good morning", but remembered you were in Spain. Is it "good afternoon" then? Is it already Wine o'clock there, as Talli might say?
ReplyDeleteI hope you are well. Music really is number one with me as a sustenance. Yet, if this was holding back visitors and comments, then good riddance! Lol.
Take care and have a great week.
-Jimmy