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Leaked Apple Email Hints at the Possible End of iTunes: Report (cultofmac.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: Apple could kill off iTunes in the near future, a new report suggests. It cites an email that Apple reportedly wrote to people in the music industry recently, announcing the "end of iTunes LPs." The iTunes LP format was first introduced in 2009 and let publishers add interactive artwork, along with assorted iTunes Extras, with their content. The LP format never achieved great popularity. However, the fact that Apple plans to ditch iTunes LPs in 2018 potentially hints at the possibility that Apple may stop selling iTunes music downloads in the near future. The Apple email announcing the change was reportedly sent two weeks ago from an address at "The iTunes Store" and signed by "The Apple Music Team." But its existence has only been highlighted now through a report by the U.K. newspaper The Metro. "Apple will no longer accept new submissions of iTunes LPs after March 2018," the letter notes. "Existing LPs will be deprecated from the store during the remainder of 2018. Customers who have previously purchased an album containing an iTunes LP will still be able to download the additional content using iTunes Match." The news about the possible winding down of iTunes would come as no surprise to many users. Not only has iTunes been outdated for years in terms of its interface and functionality, but Apple clearly aims to move to a streaming model of music selling. Further reading: 'Apple Stole My Music. No, Seriously'; Apple Says It Doesn't Know Why iTunes Users Are Losing Their Music Files; iTunes Turns 13 Today -- Continues To Be 'Awful'.
It would be a favor to all of us.
...before you have to rent it
I know, reading is hard, but the LPs sold on iTunes are the extra content, liner notes, etc. Not iTunes itself.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
What will replace the local iPhone synchronization features if iTunes dies? BTW - don't confuse "iTunes LP" with "iTunes Music" -- one is a specific subset of music. Basically a more-expensive bundled album vs individual tracks.
Why do you hate free market capitalism? If you prefer, you can always write, record, and produce your own music to listen to. No one is stopping you.
With iTunes gone, how do you get your own-produced music from your PC onto your iPhone?
If you prefer, you can always write, record, and produce your own music to listen to. No one is stopping you.
One might argue that the incumbent music publishers are stopping me. Once I've written a song, how do I make sure it isn't substantially similar to any existing copyrighted song in order to avoid a lawsuit alleging accidental infringement?
That's all I had to read to realize this article was submitted by an idiot. "iTunes" the music application/media store portal is NOT the same thing as "iTunes LPs". All they are doing is getting rid of a special content-addition option for album sales on the music store that let publishers include digital version of the booklets that normally accompany physical CDs, containing linear notes, photos, and other printed content from the band.
There's nothing free about capitalism.
Didn't anyone teach you what capitalism actually is?
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Realize the "walled garden" thing didn't work out? Purchase something other than an iPhone.
I have an Android Samsung Galaxy S5 - But my wife's iPhone is employer-supplied, so she can't easily switch.
for my kid. I used to buy about $120/yr worth of iTunes cards for her. Now I pay $5/month for Apple Music. She's in college so I get a discount, and once she graduates she's on her own :).
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Apple AAC files do not have DRM on them... convert it to whatever file format you want and play it on whatever device you want.
The walled garden analogy doesn't apply here. Nothing in curated or quality controlled ( except the quality of the source material, but if you don't want that buy CD's and rip them yourself )
There is literally nothing in the article to suggest that because Apple will stop selling their proprietary special featured albums that they will stop selling music all together.
It's clickbait, nothing more.
With iTunes gone, how do you get your own-produced music from your PC onto your iPhone?
I imagine they will still have some kind of iPhone syncing software to manage backups, music, and photos, even if the iTunes music store dies.
Here's an idea don't use an employer supplied phone for personal use.
Not this mouldy old chestnut again.
A free market doesn't preclude criticism of any of its participants, regardless of whether or not you are free to choose not to buy
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
I just confirmed that iTunes is not going away. iTunes music revenue is still growing as of Q3 2017 at a clip of 20%. 99 cents for a track is pretty reasonable. So iTunes is profitable and growing. iTunes LP (whatever that is) is going away, I think this is the interactive content and cute liner notes that typically come with CDs. YouTube is currently the go to place for extra content and as a heavy iTunes user, I did't know iTunes LP existed, so it must be hidden well.
That argument is quite a leap beyond logic and reason. It sounds a little bit to me like if someone had tried to suggest that Apple was abandoning removable media when they started shipping the iMac with no internal floppy drive. Removing one largely unused and/or obsolete feature does not suggest that the entire product is going to be killed.
Mind you, as buggy as iTunes is, it seems likely that this particular leap really boils down to wishful thinking from Apple's biggest fans and/or biggest critics -- which are often one-and-the-same people, by the way -- but I'm afraid there are far too many things which still require iTunes, for it to be discontinued entirely, this early in the game.
Come on guy, you can troll better than that.
There's the overpriced status symbol smartphone, the missing headphone jack, the stupid notch on the iPhone X, the lack of microSD slot, the non-removable battery...
Oh, right - the other companies copied those "features" so you can't make fun of that anymore.
#DeleteFacebook
Without criticism there is no free market at all. Spreading information about bad actors is fundamental if people are to make informed decisions, and that is the whole point of free market. That is why free market can only exist where freedom of speech is observed.
What is best in life? Hot water, good dentishtry and shoft lavatory paper.
(...aaand that's what I get for inadvertently clicking "Submit" instead of preview before I'd finished editing.)
Having the choice not to buy Company X's product doesn't preclude criticism of Company X or the product. On top of this, exercising that right and choosing not to buy the product still doesn't shield it from criticism.
It's ironic that this rebuttal comes up so often from would-be white knights of the "free market"- or at least, by those invoking its name to defend their favoured corporate interest. If the first applied, no-one would have the right to criticise any product they weren't forced to buy at gunpoint (or whatever). This would basically shut down criticism of almost *anything* on sale. Reviews? "You don't have to buy it, so shut up about it!"
Even if only the second applied, only people who actually *bought* the product would be able to legitimately say anything against it (and I've no doubt "well, you bought it and you didn't have to!" would still be used against them). The complete antithesis of the information sharing an effective free market depends upon. This isn't support of the free market, it's corporate protectionism- that we shouldn't be allowed to say anything nasty about those things those nice companies are selling from the goodness of their hearts.
OTOH, I doubt those parroting this argument even thought about the (obvious) implications of what they were saying in that much depth!
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Yes, that's the point I was trying to make (and *had* made repeatedly in the past) before I prematurely submitted the half-edited post. Take away freedom- or legitimacy- of criticism, and you have little more than a corporatocracy or fascism in its early 20th century form.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Will it be as reliable and user friendly as itunes?
However, the fact that Apple plans to ditch iTunes LPs in 2018 potentially hints at the possibility that Apple may stop selling iTunes music downloads in the near future.
No. Just. No.
iTunes LP format has failed... so Apple may pull iTunes?
Google Wave failed - Google to leave the advertising industry?
Can't you just copy *.mp3 and *.ogg onto it? The filesystem mounts as a USB device, doesn't it?
it may even be better
Apple: iTunes LP doesn't make us money, never really did, so we'll ditch it
News hack: OMG Apple is exploding!
How does that even hint at Apple stopping sales of music?
"Everybody's naked underneath" -- The Doctor
I have one which has a headphone jack and a MicroSD slot.
There is a reason that blog is nicknamed "C*nt of Mac"
Its like you know, how Ford closed up shop when they stopped selling the Model-T
The US in unique it seems in that the total IQ of the country remains the same even as the population has grown. You have have more and more really stupid people. and these blogs cater for that crowd because they are the majority.
Why? If the employer allows, then why not? Most people do not want to carry two phones...
I dont have any inside knowledge, nor any further "evidence" than TFA, but i do think that it's likely that iTunes will be deprecated, in favor of Apple Music, with more iTunes like features.
What a moronic article. The actual news is simply that Apple will be deprecating their _album_ format. This is not surprising, because digital singles have always outsold digital albums, and it's far from clear that the added album content increased album sales. I'd give Apple credit for at least trying to make digital albums interesting, but the reality is that for the majority of albums there are only one or two songs that are really popular, so only dedicated fans buy entire albums, and they'd probably buy the album even without the "extra stuff" in the LP format.
The idea that Apple is discontinuing iTunes completely is beyond stupid. It's a $billion revenue stream for Apple. Yes, digital downloads are shrinking a bit, while streaming is growing rapidly, but the two compliment each other, and both are highly profitable. And, perhaps more importantly to Apple, the more people's music is in iTunes, the more likely they are to buy Apple hardware to listen to their music.
Enable 3D printed prosthetics!
other than those Irish songs they forced on me, I've never paid for a danged song.
Does this mean they're going to do away with webcasts too? What will I fill my Rio Clear MP3 player with?
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
âoeHowever, the fact that Apple plans to ditch iTunes LPs in 2018 potentially hints at the possibility that Apple may stop selling iTunes music downloads in the near futureâ How is not supporting a single format (LPs include extras above and beyond music - thatâ(TM)s what is being retired) a hint that they will cease all sales and move exclusively to subscriptions? Holy shit thatâ(TM)s stupid.
I just had to weigh in here, because every time there's a story about iTunes, i read how much people hate it. Even at work, there has been one or two occasions where someone has talked about iTunes and someone else jumps in showing their disgust of the product.
Apparently there is something wrong with me. I've used iTunes since my first iPod in 2004, on PC. Yes, PC. In the early versions there was a bug that instead of ejecting the CD unmounted it. Makes perfect sense on *nix, but doesn't translate that well to Windows. Anyway, I thought it was fine. I still use it, although on a Mac. I regularly buy albums from the iTunes Store and Bandcamp, even though I have Spotify.
I'm happy, but.. I understand that what I'm doing is wasted, hopeless and that I shouldn't. But I need someone to tell me why, in a way that makes me understand. Because very often, when someone lashes out against iTunes, they expect me to have the same foundation of frustration and agony with it. Music is, at least in my life, highly valued and at times considered a fundamental part of staying happy and productive. So I can understand how something like this not working can cause a minor outburst.
It would actually be great to have a bullet list of the major gripes people had with the product, worded in a manner that I could comprehend. Because it seems to me I might be missing out on a lot. Would anyone care to expand my universe? :)
Once I've written a song, how do I make sure it isn't substantially similar to any existing copyrighted song
No need. You need that only if you're going to sell recordings or perform for pay.
According to 17 USC 106, a paywall is not the threshold for activity that meaningfully infringes exclusive rights in a copyrighted work; distributing or performing publicly is. Someone making a recording of a song available without charge through the Internet is still operating publicly and thus needs to either take a license or somehow certify originality.
Here's an idea don't use an employer supplied phone for personal use.
Most people, including my wife, don't want to carry around two phones.
...and if your employer is going to pick up the tab, why not?