Source:
https://scmp.com/tech/innovation/article/2048565/google-launching-music-festival-called-good-fest
Tech/ Innovation

Google is launching a music festival called Good Fest

It may be an event to promote the new Google Pixel smartphone, but the concert sales will go to non-profit charities

Good Fest is described as a "livestream festival for good." Photo: GoodHQ

Google is launching a music festival called Good Fest later this month, which it is describing as a “a first-of-its-kind livestream festival for good,” according to the event’s website.

The first concert will see English indie band Glass Animals perform at BAM Cafe in New York City on November 29. A further four shows will follow across four different cities in the US, all livestreamed on YouTube.

The concerts will raise money for non-profits through ticket sales and online donations. 100 per cent of the ticket sales for the Glass Animals gig, for example, will go to DonorsChoose.org.

The Good Fest website describes the event as “a celebration of progress, positivity, and the power of people to push the world forward.”

Google is using the event to promote its new Pixel smartphone, which will be used to record backstage footage and will be heavily referenced at the events and their promotional material.

Good Fest has been launched in partnership with Good Media, a company that produces its own website and quarterly magazine and forms media partnerships designed to create social impact. Essence, Google’s digital agency, is also helping produce and promote the event.

While the Good Fest website makes no reference to the current political climate, the timing of the launch is likely not coincidental. 

Future events as part of the festival are being billed as played for “humanity,” “earth,”equality,” and “love.” Upcoming concerts will include artists such as Gogol Bordello and D.R.A.M.

Google was not immediately available to comment.