Garageband.com, one of the first platforms for indie musicians to gain exposure online, is closing its doors on July 15, 2010. Started in 1999 in Seattle, Garageband.com was specifically designed to help introduce little known artists to consumers while letting musicians maintain control of their music and careers. The good news is that if you’re an artist on Garageband, you can sign up for a profile on iLike, and all that data will be automatically added to your iLike profile.

I first started using Garageband.com for my artists back in 2005, and had pretty decent success with the platform. I didn’t think it was particularly user friendly, and I am glad they are refocusing efforts on iLike and MySpace. Both of these platforms are more robust and have a much wider user across the board in the world. In fact, if you look at indie, and B-List artists who are involved with iLike, their fan reach is 2-5 times higher than on any other platform. A-list artists are having better success on Facebook, but that doesn’t change the fact that most A-List artists are reaching well over 1 million fans on iLike.

Here’s the official post from Garageband.com:

After ten years of helping people discover independent music, Garageband.com will be retired on July 15th, 2010.

The landscape of how music is discovered and delivered has changed drastically over the last decade. We are proud to have been a part of that change — first with Garageband.com and then with iLike.com, and today with MySpace. As part of the effort to deliver the best user experience, we’re focusing our resources on MySpace and iLike, and retiring Garageband.

Link your account to iLike: (action required)
If you want to continue to make your music available for streaming or download on iLike.com and iLike’s Music application on Facebook, please go to iLike.com and login with your Garageband username and password by July 15th, 2010. This will automatically link your account to iLike so we can port your music, profile photo, and biography to iLike.com.

We also recommend creating a music profile on MySpace if you have not done so, sign up, as iLike and MySpace are working closely together to deliver the next generation of tools and services for musicians and music fans alike.

Finally, if you have recently purchased Gold Membership or Contest Entry on Garageband.com and would like a refund, please email refunds@ilike-inc.com to request a refund. Valid refund requests must be received no later than August 31st, 2010.

Sincerely,
The Garageband and iLike Team

Regardless, there will be many people unhappy with the decision to close Garageband.com, but I say congratulations for a great run in the ever changing online music landscape.