Google+ Hangouts for Music Promotion

In the first post, I introduced Google+ and talked about its Circles feature and how it might be used for music marketing.

But ... the feature I'm most excited about is called Hangouts. This is basically a throwback to the chat rooms of old, where a small group of people huddle up and interact in real time.

The thing that makes Google+ Hangouts special is its build-in video feature. As it functions now, up to 10 people with webcams can participate in a live audio-visual chat session.

Cool idea. It didn't take long for some creative and proactive musicians to jump on this opportunity.

This past Saturday night, indie artist Daria Musk held a live performance using Google+ Hangouts that ended up lasting more than six hours. She did a good job promoting it beforehand, and the live event stirred up a lot more interest among G+ users as it was happening.

Therefore, because of the 10-person limit, most people were shut out. Thankfully, one of the audience members was a Google engineering director, who soon connected a series of Hangouts in a daisy-chain that allowed more people to watch live.

Attendees also purposely rotated out to allow new G+ users in, and by the end several hundred people had participated.

At the end of the marathon performance, Daria wrote "My heart is forever changed. You all made my dreams come true tonight. I guess I'm really a global artist now! I cannot express how grateful I am. I've fallen in love with all of you."

All of that activity on the new Google+ led to lots of exposure across the Web. Check out this search string.

Jazz guitarist Rob Michael has also been busy exploring the possibilities of Google+.

This Friday he plans to perform live during a Google Hangout, only he has found a solution to the 10-person limit. As he explains, "Early attendees will get 'Front Row' seats in the actual Hangout. Should it be full when you arrive, there will be additional seating via Ustream.com."

Smart thinking! Details on Rob's live concert can be found on this page.

I plan to hold my first informal Hangout on G+ this week. I'll use that to play with features and get familiar with how it works. I'll also record it using ScreenFlow on the Mac and share some of the session with people who can't get in live.

Follow my Google+ profile to learn more.

What are your thoughts on Google Hangouts? Would you be willing to give it a shot?

Bob