Mark, my understanding of computers and setting up websites is virtually nil compared to yourself and some of the guys here. However, fwiw, you could give the user the option of turning the music off if they wish and reg slow loading times...instead of a black or dark background, maybe you could have something to distract the user from watching the "loading" times, maybe have an interesting shot you've taken, covering the whole background of the screen(landscape, castle, stormy sky ect)(black and white pic might look cool!)

Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.