Ellie Goulding to Host World's 1st Digital Album Signing
British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding will be in a Google+ Hangout, hosting what's been dubbed the world's first digital album signing Monday at 3 p.m. ET, all to help promote her much-anticipated sophomore album, "Halcyon."
Google+, in partnership with Universal Music, will live stream the Hangout and allow fans around the world to meet Goulding in a virtual face-to-face group chat and album signing. Anyone interested can post questions for the singer and receive their signed virtual album. This event is the latest celebrity chat taking place through Google+, which recently put the spotlight on Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice.
Goulding's first studio album, "Lights," was released Feb. 26, 2010. After the album's re-release, with six bonus tracks, in November 2010, her song "Lights" slowly began to hit U.S. airwaves.
Over two years, that sleeper hit went from a practically unknown U.K. bonus track to certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Its sales totaled more than 3 million downloads in the United States. Goulding ended up performing for Prince William and Kate Middleton at a private dinner following their wedding, appeared on "Saturday Night Live" and toured with Katy Perry.
Potential participants in the Google+ Hangout must preregister and fill out a form that screens them to make sure they have added Goulding to their Google+ circle, installed the Hangout plugin, and have a pair of headphones to use in the Hangout. Once the album has been signed, it will be posted directly on fans' Google+ pages for all to admire.
Monday's event could help decide whether interactive digital can help boost digital album sales. If not for the digital "signing" of the album, interacting in real-time with Goulding may be the biggest draw.