Applescript isn’t an all-purpuse scripting language (nothing is). Applescript is an inter-application communication language. That means you may write scripts that give commands to one application, return data, which is then processed in simple applescript or passed onto another application. It also means that when a program is created, its company must choose to implement applescript and implement it well for the program to be useful.
Microsoft didn’t do this with IE, and, to my knowledge, neither have the other browser providers.
So: what you want is a Javascript, at least if you’re using IE (and probably Navigator). I’m sure that you can use an applescrip to send a javascript to IE that will perform some or all of what you want. Macro programs might do well, too.
As mac_guy said, you don’t have that kind of control over most browsers (does cyberdog still work?)
Take a look at the following script–it does something vaguely similar to what you want, without using a browser at all. (Passwords might be a problem, though.)
–tet
I’ve not seen a recordable web browser, either. True, IE can be sent custom Javascript commands with AppleScript, which can make the browser perform functions (tho I don’t know Java well enough to say what).
However, if the site uses POST method to submit the form (enter usrnm/pswd/artist and go to page), you can use any scriptable browser that allows the “post data” parameter of the OpenURL event.
Look at the source html of the page for the FORM tags, the POST url, and the form data types/names. An AppleScript can be used to generate the form data with your username, password, and artist name and then send the OpenURL event with the post data - the browser will open with the page that you’d get had you done it manually. There is no need to hit the back button to resubmit POST data, so the script could repeat the action with a list of artist names and pause between repeats (or better, use a script’s ‘on idle’ handler to allow loading/viewing time).