So I’m listening to Matt Dillon read the unabridged On The Road by Jack Kerouac and doing my monthly MySpace inbox check when I see an old girlfriend has sent me a message. I click over to her profile to see what she’s up to and the soft narration gives way to the blaring horns of some song I’d rather not hear.
Does this sound familiar? It’s one of the reasons my monthly MySpace browse only happens once a month: those damned profile songs on auto-play. I’m not the first person to state the problem, or to solve it. Anyway, here’s my solution:
Edit this file: c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (try /etc/hosts if it’s not Windows). Add the following as a new line and save the file.
0.0.0.0 lads.myspace.com
This may not take effect immediately. You can run ipconfig /flushdns to make Windows obey.
The nice thing about this method is that it works for any browser you have installed; no ad-blocking or proxy software is required.
Disclaimer: editing files that you don’t know from config.sys is risky. Your risk, not mine.
August 21, 2006 at 10:14 am
I use a bit of a different approach. In my user CSS I have the line:
#miniplayer { display: none !important; }
That rule will work for any browser that supports user style sheets. I use my own style sheet only in my primary browser so I always have the option of loading a page in a different browser to see what I might be missing.
August 21, 2006 at 11:26 am
Combine Joefish’s bit of code with a CSS bookmarklet, and you’re in business.
August 21, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Isn’t auto-play an option in your preferences? It’s global for other people’s pages too.
August 21, 2006 at 3:06 pm
Matt: That didn’t work for me last night.
August 21, 2006 at 10:44 pm
@Matt: Like Andy said, the option in the preferences doesn’t work.
Thanks for this one Andy. No more crap music blaring when i’m trying to listen to my own music
August 22, 2006 at 11:51 pm
account settings > privacy settings > disable band songs from automatically starting
has been working for me. it was glitchy for a while there while they switched up the player, but yeah.
but your method is certainly interesting. and more… bulletproof.
September 1, 2006 at 9:58 am
I like Andy’s idea of murdering the song; not simply turning it off. It’s like killing Windows Messenger three different ways: it’s not necessary, but it sure feels good!
October 22, 2006 at 7:01 pm
This post is a public service. If you printed it on a t-shirt you’d have a crowd around you, copying it down everywhere you went.
Thank you.
January 7, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Well, tried editing settings in MySpace, which have moved to their own “Music Settings” area now, yet I still got unwelcomed musics!! Editing the user css files in fyrefoks seemed to do little so the hosts file has been molested.
Aaaah, the sweet sound of… well whatever the heck I want, it’s not going to be interrupted by unwelcomness any more
Though for semi ability to switch it back on when desired a shortcut to the etc folder now resides on my desktop – works well enough for me.
Many thanks for the info
January 8, 2007 at 12:06 pm
ironically, this thread was commented on just behind the sonific songspot thread.
why, if you hate autoplaying on myspace, is it ok on wordpress.com?
January 9, 2007 at 4:42 pm
I also had the problem of myspace’s own “account settings > privacy settings > disable band songs from automatically starting” option not working. Then I cleared my myspace cookies and reseleted the option and autoplay is now properly disabled. (to delete cookies in firefox: tools > options > privacy > show cookies, search for myspace, delete everything.)
January 19, 2007 at 2:08 pm
OMG! Thanks for the tip.. I almost never visit MySpace for this reason alone! I hate music on websites for the same reasons!
March 6, 2007 at 8:35 am
Thank you! This is great info, I can now surf with my speakers (and choosen music) on again!
March 9, 2007 at 9:17 am
you may just have saved my life. or at least a couple of peoples.
April 18, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Actually amazing. Thanks so much!
May 22, 2007 at 6:06 am
thanks so much it was great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 21, 2007 at 8:15 am
I can keep my headphones on now without jumping out my skin.
January 2, 2008 at 4:32 am
Hi Andy,
your post just convinced me to turn off autoplay on our myspace page
May I suggest a browser plugin, though, that can remedy numerous problems of this kind? Since most content that is automatically triggered is flash based … use the plugin flashblock.
It’s running smoothly on my firefox and I can decide which content to activate. Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Antill
April 16, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Thank you Andy!!! I was searching for an answer to why my myspace player didnt work and stumbed upon this gem!
Like you said, in notepad I opened c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts and did the opposite of your guidance. I edited out all the lines that included “myspace” and saved it. Presto! My player plays now!
Thank you!!!
July 14, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I love you.
For Mac users out there, open the Terminal and type: “sudo pico /etc/hosts”
Then add “0.0.0.0 lads.myspace.com” at the bottom and save the file. BAM. Done. Fantastic.