Preview Amazon MP3 Clips Widget: Buy DRM-free Music

Amazon Associates will soon launch a new MP3 Clips Widget, that webmasters can add to their websites and earn affiliate commission from users buying mp3 music. They invited us to preview this new ad unit and I find it is a great way to add music to your site and earn money doing it.

New Amazon MP3 Clips widget

MP3 Clips widget lets you showcase song samples from Amazon’s vast DRM-free MP3 catalog. Search through Amazon’s catalog and add entire albums or select specific MP3 tracks to the widget. You can also showcase the latest Bestsellers from any music genre. The MP3 Clips widget can also automatically display the latest MP3 tracks you purchase on Amazon.com.

Here is how this widget looks like in 336×280 size. I selected the bestselling mp3 songs to play in this unit. Check it out.

The ad units can be set in various sizes - 2 large rectangular sizes of 336×280 and 250×250px. There are 2 sidebar sizes of 120×300 and 160×300px. The unit resembles a normal embedded video unit like Youtube, and since visitors usually click more videos than ads, its a nice surprise to get the music started.

The interface is appealing. The Album name, Artist are clearly displayed with an attractive photo in the background. The cost of the mp3 ($0.89-$0.99) is clearly displayed and if the visitor really likes the music, they click the “buy mp3″ link, which open the Amazon buy mp3 page in a new window, with your affiliate code. If you browse over the photo, the entire playlist is revealed and the user can play any track they like.

There are neat controls to play the music, switch between clips and adjust the volume. You can hide the controls too. Its amazing how Amazon has managed to fit in so much stuff without cluttering the interface. The sample mp3 clips play for about 30 seconds before automatically switching over.

Here is an example of the 160×300 mp3 widget unit

The sidebar widgets are useful to embed inside long and narrow blog sidebars where the space is less, but it compromises on display given by the larger units. The navigation menu tends to crowd up which will of course occur when the unit size is reduced, but they have still manged to fit all the stuff in quite well. You have an option to enlarge the photo to see the album cover in these units.

I realized the usual habit is to click play and let the music play in the background. The tracks keep changing every 30 seconds and the playlist continues. So I keep browsing and working, when a particular soundtrack sounds great, I can simply click the buy mp3 link.

I think the concept is great and will surely interest bloggers. This widget is much better than placing individual mp3 links and Amazon has managed to blend a cool experience without much Ad blindness. The new generation netizen wants a complete audio-visual experience on websites, and I believe, used correctly the Amazon MP3 Clip widget can be a good addition for webmasters to earn money. It will soon become live…