Following initial rumors last week, Apple have now officially announced the retirement of their iTunes product. In its place the company will be shifting the content found on the app towards three separate apps: Apple Podcasts, their TV app and their streaming platform Apple Music respectively. The official rollout is expected to take place this September with the company having confirmed the decision during a press conference earlier today, June 03rd.
While the aforementioned trio of apps will be integrated into the macOS this fall and the Finder app will take on some of the synchronizing, etc. duties, it currently remains unclear what PC users will have as an alternative to manage the content on their iOS devices.
Given the meteoric rise of streaming media and the plunging decline of digital downloads, the decision to discontinue the product that once revolutionized the digital media landscape is not surprising.
This RIAA report from February saw revenue from digital downloads for music, ringtones, etc. fall 25% in 2018 with the revenue generated from the format accounting for a mere 11% of total music revenue generated in the United States. Comparatively digital downloads accounted for 24.1% of all music revenue generated in the U.S. back in 2016.