Amazon Web Services

Since I started digitizing my CD collection three years ago, I've often found it interesting as well as good research to read what was said about bands and CD's on Amazon. 

I discovered Amazon's Web Services over the holidays and thought it would be cool to add in a link to Amazon from my MP3 server (don't bother to ask for access, sorry).  Their API's allow you to make XML (or SOAP) calls to various parts of the Amazon site.  I've used it to link to bands and albums.

The application I've put together uses XML over HTTP.  On my MP3 server's artist and album pages, I display a link to my Amazon lookup program, passing the artist and/or album name and it displays as depicted in the image below.  My application queries Amazon for the artist and/or album and retrieves an XML file, which I then transform with an XSL stylesheet and output as HTML.  The artist and album name links to that item on Amazon.