Returning to the music industry in a recording capacity early in 2007, Garageband.com was one of the first sites that I staggered across. Initially I was somewhat wary, as I usually am, about the site as there is great emphasis on 'get this.' This is my green light to run away but for some reason I didn't.
Before creating an account at Garageband.com, I'd suggest creating a musicians account at iLike.com.
Using the same login details on Garageband.com as iLike.com create your profile. Keep your profile blurb concise and consistent with any others. The next step is to go to your 'garage.' This is where you enter your artists' name. Once that's done, on the right of your page, to the right of your bands' picture is the option (amongst others) to 'upload a song.' The steps are clearly set out. Songs can be uploaded at 128kbs. Details such as 'sounds like who,' I find somewhat pointless,as I do with 'song lyrics.' I soon tired of 'song description' too but these choices are obviously yours.
Prior to clicking 'upload' there is the option to make a song 'free download,' free for Garageband.com fans' or 'streaming only.' Choose carefully here as changes may take up to 24 hours to take effect. These options are followed by the obligatory legal spiel, below which is a somewhat pseudo-cool statement to the effect of "....smoke something that you rolled yourself while the upload is in progress....." Oh, please.
I have had no problems uploading to Garageband.com but do find the absence of a progress bar somewhat irksome. Uploads take about as much time as it takes me to boil the kettle, make a coffee and smoke two or three things that come in a packet, courtesy of Rothmans....about twenty minutes. You are notified by email. Click the link and you're taken back to your 'garage' where a low-bit-rate and a hi-bit-rate version of your track awaits your approval. It isn't necessary to play either version prior to clicking 'approve' but I'd strongly recommend it.
That's the bare bones of Garageband.com from an independent musicians perspective. There are, as per usual, the paid promotional offer and subscriptions, etc. Additionally, Garageband.com seems very big on reviewing other artists. I managed to do four before I realised that reviewers are judged (!), hence I haven't bothered since. (Judged against what or who, I don't know). As mentioned, like most other music sites, the actual music isn't the priority for Garageband.com. Having said this, I can guarantee that you won't be bombarded with emails with 'special offers' and so forth.
The major plus with Garageband.com is that your music, once uploaded, will transfer to your iLike.com artists page. This can take anywhere from a few hours to over 24 hours.
iLike.com is perhaps the goose laying the golden egg with regard to online promotion for independent musicians. Although it doesn't come at any physical cost, there are a few 'quirks' that could be improved upon.
The fact that one doesn't have a remotely accurate time-frame for new releases arriving there unlike with Nimbit where a release can be planned to the second, makes concise pre-promotion impossible, so a "coming soon" has to suffice. If your band has quite a few tracks that you want to upload and upload them a day or even days apart, these uploads usually only show in the updates section to your fans as all being released simultaneously. This sluggish response time on the part of iLike.com is also reflected if you decide that you wish to 'hide' a song that has been uploaded. It can take up to 72 hours and even then the song title is still visible.
Another aspect to be aware of with iLike.com is that fans, and possibly yourself, when they play any of your songs, are given the impression that they are for sale on iTunes. Unless you have made that song for sale on iTunes, then this is not the case and is out and out deception. I have contacted Garageband.com, iLike.com and iTunes on this matter and have received a deafening silence in return.
Having pointed these drawbacks out, there are many strong positives regarding iLike.com for the independent musician. iLike.com has always been a major player on the music promotion front but since jumping into bed with Google mid-late 2009, it really has surged ahead.
Getting in as soon as possible to iLike.com and having a solid profile page is, without question, the best start that any independent musician can have as far as 'searchability.' I am in no way engouraging you to dive in head-first with every song that you have ever recorded; quite the opposite. Plan everything.
From your artists page you can post updates to your fans, post messages directly to Twitter, view statistics, write blogs, send new songs to your fans there. Videos can also be uploaded directly to iLike.com with no fuss at all. Additionally, all of these activities can be easily transferred to other sharing sites. In my instance it's generally to the Bob Findlay Music Page on Facebook. Embeddable playlists are a simple affair to set up too and a step-by-step guide is provided. I would recommend, however, that you place your playlists on sites with light-coloured backgrounds as the playlists appear as dark blue only.
Outside of the excellent promotional nature of iLike.com, the fact that it really is a low-maintenance site for the independent musician is the icing on the cake. I've found that this allows more time for interaction with people who enjoy what I'm doing, as opposed to be a seething lunatic waiting for a song to upload and generally not being in the mood for pleasantries by the end of it.
Listeners at iLike.com are very much music enthusiasts. To become a listener there they too have to have a profile page, so someone isn't going to go out of their way to create a page because they like your music unless they really mean it. Likewise, listeners who are already there are less likely to add you as an artist if there's any chance of it jeopardising their credibility.
Pay no heed to the numbers of fans on iLike.com. Quality counts. This should apply anywhere.
