After my post on widgets yesterday, a reader forwarded to me a link to a post on the demise of Snocap and the viability of the widget. In the post you will see the same themes I wrote about, namely that MySpace is all about free. (I don't recall seeing the post before I wrote my post...in case you notice the similarities between the two.)

More than one artist raised concerns with me about the service last year. The main point at issue was turning what was essentially a networking platform into a sales pitch - the feeling was that, after months of work to build relationships and fan trust via MySpace, the move would have a negative impact…of course, these same artists understood what MySpace is and is not ...

MySpace never was or will be a sales platform - it is the default destination to hear a band and make an initial connection but it is far from an Amazon-esque trusted vendor. MySpace is like a market with a billion sellers and no buyers. Taking a stab at changing how MySpace is used was admirable, but illustrates the immense difficulty, some would say futility, of changing users behaviour on a certain platform.

Exactly. This is worth repeating since I know some very influential people in the industry believe widgets, because of ubiquity and exponential growth, are the future of music sales. On paper it looks great. "Hey, we can sell music from every blog and MySpace page that exists! It makes so much sense, it can't fail." That "place it and they will come" mentality doesn't jibe with observed purchasing behavior. The above quote has a very important phrase, "trusted vendor," that probably best describes the widget's main shortcoming. It's not a trusted vendor. Until someone with Amazon's reputation develops a widget, I won't believe they have potential to sell music.