Apple is reportedly set to reveal the end of an era on Monday — no more iTunes. The music store available for years on iPods and iPhones has been overshadowed by streaming services, like the company’s own Apple Music, and it will soon be phased out, Bloomberg reports.
iTunes will be replaced by separate apps for music, TV and podcasts, according to Bloomberg. The change is expected to be announced Monday as CEO Tim Cook and other company executives open Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Jose, California.
Several internet sleuths have been investigating this possible change for a while. Reddit users noticed all of the posts on the iTunes Instagram and Facebook pages have been deleted. Other Apple fans noticed the company moved the content on the iTunes Facebook page to the Apple TV page.
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And possible leaked images of the three new apps that could replace iTunes were revealed on a Mac blog.
Getting rid of iTunes is just one of the expected changes Apple is expected to announce. CNET predicts Apple executives will also reveal a “dark mode” for iOS 13, new health features, and changes to the iPad to make it more computer-like.
iTunes became a staple in the music industry with the advent of the first iPod in 2001. Apple gave consumers an easy — and legal — way to download music right from the iTunes store. Songs started at just 99 cents and now cost an average of $1.29. The current iTunes store not only has 50 million songs, but it also has TV shows and movies available for purchase.
As streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music compete for customers, pay-per-song platforms, like iTunes seem to be falling by the wayside. An Apple Music subscription currently allows customers to listen to songs they previously bought and downloaded from iTunes. It is unclear what will happen to individual songs bought on iTunes if the service does go dark.
