Apple Signals End Of iTunes Era, What Happens To 20-Years Worth Of Playlists?

“What happens to my music library?” is the question lingering on the minds of many who adopted i tunes since its release in the early 2000s. Many iPhone users invested heavily in the platform assuming that it would always be there.

Social media was all chaos when news came out that Apple’s all-in-one media app is about to go away- for good. There was plenty of concern for music playlists and movie downloaded over almost 20 years, but Apple confirmed that they won’t let those personal back catalogs disappear- they will be moving them over to a trio of new apps.

According to reports from Bloomberg, the tech company will announce that three separate apps for music, Tv, and podcasts will supersede iTunes as Apple seeks to reposition itself as an entertainment service rather than a hardware company by-products such as the i phone.

The move is expected to be part of the important address by the Apple chief executive, Tim Cook, at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California. The event, which starts on Monday will focus on software updates and Apple’s newest approach to apps.

When iTunes was launched, the platform revolutionalized music storage and downloads in mobile devices. Users could easily rip their CDs into digital forms and legally buy albums rather than using then-popular peer to peer sharing sites such as Napster, which had already been in the market two years before.

Although rival companies- including Microsoft and Sony – had considered launching their own music stores, they were not considered as “sophisticated as Apple’s approach to software”

According to Vidich, “It really took a company that was able to bridge those two things and come up with an attractive consumer product.

But in the ever-changing world of tech, iTunes and its downloads strategy quickly became oldfashioned as companies introduced successful streaming models that paved the way for music’s most radically democratic era”

Social media users nostalgically reacted to an era of technology that relegated CDs to the drawer and ushered in the era of digital platforms.

I heard Apple is getting rid of iTunes, and my old school ass is sad about it — Elissa F. (@FlippaCoin15)

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the demise of iTunes all weekend… — Tamar Juda (@LastWordPR)

The news that iTunes is being superseded has been welcomed by experts who say the tool was in dire need of a makeover.

Technology editor at Finder, Alex Kidman said that he was anything but surprised by the news.

“Not surprising in the least – it’s been rumored for some time that Apple would go down this path,” he said.

“If you look at what it’s done on the iPhone, it’s been weaning users away from thinking in terms of setting up the phone or syncing tracks or content via iTunes to getting it from iCloud and the App store.

“iTunes as an app, whether you’re on a Mac or a PC … was trying to serve too many needs at once.”