The +Artists In The Plus Compilation Album is now available on +Google Play and most online music stores. The Album features 23 amazing Artists from around the world. This album was made possible with the help of +Thomas Haugland and +Myrna Braza with Tomtom& Braza Records.

I try to stay in touch with John about the cool things he is up too, and thought you might like to hear a bit about the Artists in the Plus Compilation Album from his point of view.

John, thanks for taking the time to “talk” with me. I’d like to get right into the deep of things, but I have a few questions to warm up with, before hit the high-dive.

How long have you been using G+ personally and what inspired you to start Artists In The Plus?
I started on G+ in January of last year. Music has always been a friend of mine. It has helped me through a lot of medical issues. I’ve had brain surgery, suffered with severe depression for years. I was later diagnosed as bipolar. Music helped me through it all, and starting AITP was my way of giving back to music. I started by helping a small group of friends about ten musicians and it grew from there.

How long have you run AITP, do you have any help?
I began AITP in February last year and up until a few months ago. Most of it I tried to do on my own. When you helping so many people, and working on a new project. It’s hard to trust others with it. I have always had great supporters and have learned to trust more and accept help. I think a lot of it may have to do with being bipolar as well. I have always had trust issues. It [is] something I am always working on.

How much time do you put into it, have you had to make any “heavy investments” to make it all go?
At this point it’s pretty much a from the time I get up to the time I go to bed job. I’m sure one day it will all be worth it. For the most part since their was no revenue coming in up until this point. On top of the fact due to my medical issues and the medications they had me on. I had been out of work for over two years when I started AITP. I started it with no income , so any money I have goes into keeping the website up etc. I’ve been lucky enough so far to get donations from time to time to help out.

So, in just over a year, having organized one of the largest events in the history of Plus, touched the hearts of countless people, and built one of the most recognized pages on Google+, what’s your big secret? hehe, Yeah we all want to know… More realistically, you didn’t really plan all this. How does it feel and what do you think made it “tick” with everyone so well.

It’s no secret, it’s nothing I do. It’s the content on the page. It’s the musicians and the talent people discover every time they visit the page. If I’ve done anything it’s just gathered all this amazing talent in one place. The secret is having hundreds of musicians pulling fans in at the same time. MTV, VH1, CMT or any other music network of the present or past was ever famous or popular for one artist. It was because you could find all your favorite music there.

Now… On To The Album!

Who’s idea was it? And what kind of team did you pull together to make it happen?
This album was a joint effort between myself, Myrna Braza, and Thomas Haughland. I have always wanted to do things like this with the page. After being voted Artist Of The Year by fans of the page. Myrna wanted to give something back, and along with Thomas. They volunteered there Tomtom&Braza Record Label to make it happen. Along with donating all funds raised to AITP to get it running and continue helping musicians.

How did you get all those great songs and musicians together in the studio so quickly! Did you use any special tools or software/file requirements? How did Google Apps like Drive figure into things?
Simple answer the Internet, we don’t live in an age where musicians have to go to the studio to make an album like this. A lot of the tracks have been previously released, so it was just a matter of master files being sent to the studio. Then everything was just remastered into the final project. We actually did use Google forms to get all the info and files from the Artists.

How did you get everything to mesh into a cohesive “record” (especially with so many songs)? Who did the recordings and mastering work?
Thomas Haughland handled the mastering of the album at Tomtom Studios.

How has it been received?
So far we are receiving great reviews everywhere from Los Angeles to Norway. It is truly an International hit.

You held a hangout on air release party that everyone involved enjoyed. Do you have any other promotions in the works; are others promoting the record?
We have some great supporters that have been spreading the word to local news and music blogs. Part of the reason this album is needed is because AITP can not afford any promotion of events. This is something that would really help all the musicians involved by drawing more attention to shows and events.

What’s next for Artists in the Plus?
More of the same, You can expect great shows. We will have concerts for you. The biggest Event every year will be the Online Music Festival. It will be September 27,28, and 29 this year. The first one last year had 62 performers, the goal this year is 100.

Where can we get our hands on the record and keep up with AITP?
The album is available on Google Play, iTunes, and Amazon. It can also be found on many others those are the main three.

Anyone you’d like to thank, or other thoughts in closing?
I do want to thank David Santy, James Olmos, Sara Corbin, Robert Combs, Deni Gauthier, Myrna Braza and Brent Michelle for going above and beyond in helping me promote and build AITP. Along with everyone else who has offered help, watched our shows, and visited our page. AITP is about community and it would be nothing without the community.

Be sure you get your copy of the Artists in the Plus Compilation Album, Here: https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=Bcamkni6gqrfezalbd34yxiubjq&feature=md

Meet the Gang, Here:  https://plus.google.com/+ArtistsInThePlus/posts?partnerid=gplp0

And visit the Website: http://www.artistsintheplus.com/ By the way, it has a handy “donate” button… It takes a lot of work to do all the things, AITP does, if you feel you have benefited from it, why not help them out?