Auto-Play

While I understand people really, really, really want to share their music with others via the internet; I have to say that it's extremely annoying when music starts playing once the page finishes loading. It's even worse when the player is hidden (whether actually not on the page, or difficult to find), cannot be paused, the volume cannot be modified, and/or the player is so shoddy that pausing doesn't work.

And, it's not just that it's annoying. If I'm listening to music on my computer ( whether streaming online or playing local content), my music now has to compete with yours. And, if I'm singing at the top of my lungs then this can ruin the whole pretending to be a rock star experience.

But, the biggest reason I plead with you to stop is because when I'm done being a rock star I don't always turn the volume down. So, let me paint the setting. I'm sitting at my desk surfing the internet. The only noise is the low hum of the computer, an ocassional click of the mouse, and the rare zipping sound of the scroll wheel as it clicks 3-4 times in rapid succession. Then I go to your page and a cacophony of sound erupts from the speakers causing me to jump and scaring the piss out of me.

So, please, please, I beg you, let me keep my piss until I'm ready release it. Just turn off the auto-play. That way, when should I decide to visit your site I have the option to listen to your music. Not only that, but if you blog about how awesome the song is (instead of forcing me to hear the first 30 seconds before I find a way to stop it playing), I might actually feel like giving it a listen.

I know, I'm a jerk. But, c'mon, I can't be the only person who feels this way. Can I? (Feel free to tell me off in the comments.)

And completely off-topic, do you know how hard it is to go from double-spacing at the end of a sentence to single-spacing at the end of a sentence?