This is some good news for those who do not yet have LIVE streaming on their YouTube channel. Previously Google Hangouts were limited to about 10 users but now you can pretty much do a whole show.
What the Google Blog failed to mention or discuss is copyright. Many of the questions regarding Hangouts can be answered in this help center article http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&topic=2589846&answer=2589804
However there are two big things you need to be aware of. The first is, if your YouTube channel has a current TOS strike or Copyright Strike you will NOT be able to do one of these Hangouts on Air. http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2591964
You will also need to set up 2 step verification as your YouTube account must be able to handle uploads greater than 15 minutes. (I am aware that there is a glitch going on with this issue, YouTube is aware of it http://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/d/msg/youtube/rQqS5rJswLM/5k21AmJhgwgJ hopefully a fix will be there soon)
Furthermore if during your broadcast a Content ID match is found your Live Hangouts will be suspended. http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2591847
It is unclear at this time if current Content ID matches will prevent you from doing Hangouts ON Air but when I find out I will update this blog. UPDATE: I was just informed that this is the case. You need to resolve any Content ID issues before you will be allowed to do a Hangout on Air. I was told to add this link. http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2591929 However my best advice is to always stick with royalty free music that is licensed for commercial use and use original content for your videos.
That being said, let me be somewhat critical of Google's own advertisement for Google Hangouts. The video advertisement below is hosted on the official YouTube Google channel and it says one of the things you can do is watch YouTube videos together. Many YouTube videos are part of this Content ID system. I am not just talking about music videos but many large YouTube partners have Content ID. So here apparently is Google advertising that you can do something that may in fact get you kicked off from doing Live Hangouts on Google Plus.
Now I myself have been rather critical of Google Plus, especially since it was reported that Google's Top Brass don't even use it. Here is Google CEO Larry Page who has only made 11 posts since February. http://plus.google.com/106189723444098348646/posts Essentially my issue comes down to privacy, although they have lightened up a bit on their name policy.
However, I am excited that more people are now able to broadcast live. I just wish that Google and YouTube would communicate better because this blog will only get a few hundred views at best while Google's post will be read by possibly a million. My intention as always is to try and help users avoid copyright and TOS issues that may hamper their accounts.
