Bidding adieu to iTunes.
. There are some moments in life that you will never forget. Like the first time you waited hours for your favorite song to play on the radio just so that you could record it on a cassette. Or, the first time you burned a CD with your 90s music and gifted it to your best friend.
The first time I used the iTunes service probably doesn’t rank as high as those other firsts. But yes, it was equally magical for a high-school teenager. I could make a playlist of my favorites with a few clicks, buy latest releases, not wait for hours to listen to my jam. Both the music lover and millennial in me were pleased. For the world of music, this was revolutionary.
With iTunes, the possibilities of what a young, music-savvy millennial could do were limitless - you could basically listen to any music, anytime, on-demand.
For artists, too, iTunes came as a breath of fresh air as up and coming local artists now had an open platform to showcase their music.
In a few years, as I transitioned into university, my laptop became my central hub of all-entertainment - and probably was my last fond memory of iTunes. Being able to have all my music centralized in one place and have a sense of ‘ownership’ was a feeling that truly can’t be described. In fact, in more ways than one, it was the beginning of the streaming era.
It’s when iTunes introduced Movies and TV Shows that the lines started to get blurry. The once clean, easy-to-use intuitive interface was now clogged with a variety of stuff. It almost felt like it had lost its purpose. As consumers were slowly buying into the subscription-based model which allowed them an unlimited amount of consumption every month, I found myself, too, quickly moving onto more attractive streaming options. iTunes had become an obligatory login to sync my Apple devices - and wasn't much more.
So, while the end of iTunes does prompt nostalgia, it makes business sense for Apple if it wants to compete in the content-play space. And, that brings us to today, 18 years since the launch of the app, when the announcement has been made to that iTunes is being phased out to be replaced by three modern apps with a niche content focus and more personalized approach.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s in store for the future:
Apple Music: Apple Music basically picks off where iTunes left off in terms of music. It will offer an ad-free music experience for a monthly streaming subscription fee of $10/month - with additional options of $5/month for students and $15/month for families of six.
Apple TV: An excerpt from TechRadar.com said: "Apple has unveiled big changes to its TV app, rolling out visual improvements and setting things up to integrate the hotly anticipated Apple TV Plus streaming service later this year. What you'll be getting is a new tile-based interface, a bundle of new 'channels' to watch, and new sections, including one dedicated to children."
Apple Podcast: Capitalizing on the shift from radio to on-demand audio, Apple's app will continue to deliver a wide variety of podcasts. Podcast listeners can enjoy their favorite shows on their Macs without having to navigate through the previously cluttered iTunes platform and will have a dedicated space to do so.
