Matt Halpern is Shutting Down BandHappy.com

As if this morning hadn’t already brought you some crappy news, here’s some more: BandHappy.com, a platform that allows well-known musicians to schedule and give lessons to ordinary folk both online and in person, will be shutting down by the end of the year. The platform launched in January of 2012 — meaning it will have been live for almost three years — and was founded by Periphery drummer Matt Halpern, who has been very involved with the project for the duration.

BandHappy was an awesome resource for for teachers and students alike, and, frankly, I’m sad to see it go — from where we sit it seemed like the platform was doing quite well, whatwith the likes of Mastodon’s Brent Hinds, Revocation’s Dave Davidson and others routinely offering lessons through the service. All lessons booked through December will continue as planned, but nothing will be booked into 2015.

Here’s a message from Halpern himself on the BandHappy.com front page:

To all Bandhappy Teachers, Students and Fans,

My name is Matt and i’m the founder of Bandhappy. Thank you all for the support over the past bunch of years – it’s been great! As some of you may know, I am a very busy touring drummer and educator, and have been running Bandhappy on a “full-part-time” basis since we launched. With that said, i’ve been working on my band, Periphery for years now as well, and I am extremely lucky to be a part of a musical group that will occupy most of my time throughout 2015 and beyond. It is for this reason that we will be saying good bye for now from Bandhappy.

My goal has always been to connect musicians and teachers with their fans and students, and to help both parties support one another through education and meaningful interaction.  We’ve be able to achieve this goal time and time again, and i believe all of our teachers and students will continue to work together even without Bandhappy in the mix.

I truly appreciate everyone who has been a part of this company, and I have the utmost respect for all of our teachers and supporters who have believed in me and Bandhappy’s mission from the start.

Thank you all. This has been so much fun, and I look forward to connecting with all of you again in the future.

With love and appreciation, we’re signing off. Onward and upward!

Best,

Matt Halpern

We aren’t certain what the future will bring for Halpern (besides Periphery, of course), but knowing Matt we’re certain he’s got something else up his V-neck sleeve. Best of luck, dude.