GarageBand was released fifteen years ago yesterday, and since then, Apple’s digital audio workstation has had an undeniable impact on the music world. Artists like St. Vincent, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, Grimes, Justice, and others have used GarageBand to help make their music. That said, the software features an intuitive and approachable interface that makes it uncomplicated for anybody to use, not just professionals. John Mayer participated in the original demo presentation of the software in 2004, and in a retrospective post on Instagram, Mayer said he believes Steve Jobs and the software helped change the course of music.
Mayer lauded Jobs for making GarageBand free software, so the creativity the program helped foster wasn’t held back behind a paywall:
“On this day 15 years ago, I helped Steve Jobs introduce GarageBand to the world. Since then, it’s brought music composition and production into the lives of millions of people who might have never had access to it otherwise. Looking back on it, I believe this was a kind of altruism on Steve’s part, offering the app for free on Apple devices and eventually for all. He loved music as much as anything else in his life, and GarageBand was Steve’s way of giving people the tools to discover the music within themselves. I once knew a man who changed the world.”
Find Mayer’s full post above, and watch Jobs and Mayer’s original GarageBand presentation below.
