Actually Boa, I have nothing but respect for you playing Devil's Advocate and speaking a difference in opinion. I like a challenge and a debate, so thank you for doing so.
If you have any ideas that would escalate chipmusic, I'm pretty sure we're all ears (and if nobody else is, screw it, I'm always up for that convo.)
Okay, after catching up on the posts, I think I see where everyone's coming from. Again, I'm not looking for web shows to replace venue shows-- venue shows are great for introducing new people to how shows work while web shows (in its current state and art) are much more community-friendly. We all can agree there.
What I meant about promotion wasn't necessarily people new to chipmusic but people in the scene that haven't heard of each other yet. A lot of these new-comers and up-and-comers want to do something more than push a few links on their website, and I feel this kind of show is a decent vehicle for getting their name out there provided that we get the attention of those in the scene to begin with.
Perhaps in their current state they should be considered more for the community to have fun instead of attracting new fans, but let's not count out the idea that it could do so.
As for making it look less amateur and silly to the uninformed, there's two parts of the stream that make this tough-- Let's just call it host side and performer side. Host side can organize, get people going, scheduled, etc. ... but the performance is all up to the minds of the artists. If we could figure out a guideline on how to make it look more legitimate instead of a bootlegged skype video conference, I'm totally up for it.
I do have some ideas for said guideline that I'll be writing down, and when I have something substantial I'd like to share them with you guys if you're interested. After all, despite going to shows and being a part of a few of them, I don't have nearly as many notches on my belt as some of you.