VIA Studio launches robertrich.com
Posted by Jadmin @ 3:34 PM July 3, 2008
OK then... longtime poster, first time admin. As my first post, unfortunately it's a show off piece by my own firm, VIA Studio. Up for your critical eyebones is a site that we finished a couple months ago, robertrich.com.
Robert Rich is a musician primarily focused in the realms of ambient electronic. He's released over 30 albums in the course of the last 20 years, and is extremely well regarded in his genre. He has recorded for film and television, and as an added bonus makes his own wine, which we've had the honor of tasting on multiple occasions. Robert also lives very close to the Google campus in Mountain View, CA, so we've got a spy for us on what's going on out west.
This site was quite a fun project for us, because not only did it allow us to stretch out creatively for a client, it's also a musician that we adore here at the office. This project encompassed creative design, an audio player, custom discography database, a little search engine optimization, and a whole lotta love.
By the way, my name's Jason. Pleased to meet you. I'm a big fan of the city and honored to be a part of a community that's trying to make design a part of the dialogue here.
As a general best practice, we do not play music automatically on any sites we build. Too many people browse at work or while listening to their own music. The music player should be able to handle any audio needs of the users, and since it pops in a new window, a user can browse the site and listen to uninterrupted music while doing so.
Yeah, I can appreciate that position. I also recognize the need for best practices. But I can't help but think that if I am going to a musician's website, that I expect to hear a sample of their music without seeking it out.
Just a thought (nothing more) : Is the target audience here an "at work" group? Is this a valid concern for this type of website?
Loki
Luckily we have data not only on Robert's site, but on all the sites that we host. Traffic patterns are fairly consistent. You see subtle spikes in web traffic right before and after lunchtime, and then one in the evening between 6 and 7. This was a specific conversation that we had in the development process of this site, since it is a musician's site, and two big points came up for us. The first is our best practice. NEVER give the user something they don't ask for. In addition to sound, this includes random pop-ups, browser resizing, etc. You lose traffic consistently by doing this. (Again, we have analytics to prove) The second, in particular for this artist, is that Robert's music, being ambient and droney by nature, requires a certain amount of time to develop. We came to the conclusion that it was in the best interest to open the music player in a new window, thus allowing a visitor to browse the site while listening.
1. Loki says:
July 4, 2008 11:04 AM
Is it just me, or should a website for a music artist have music samples playing? Especially in the case of an "ambient electronic" musician.
Loki