Apple leaves iTunes behind as it harmonises software

Apple on Monday announced the demise of ground-breaking iTunes as it tuned its offerings to be a stage for digital music, films, podcasts and more.

The iTunes online shop that transformed the way people buy and listen to music after its launch in 2001 will be no more, Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi said, while helping kick off the technology giant’s annual gathering of developers in Silicon Valley.

“The future of iTunes is not one app, it’s three – Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and Apple TV,” Federighi said.

Since the launch of iTunes, along with the original iPod MP3 player, lifestyles have shifted to streaming music, video and more from the internet cloud as online data centres and high-bandwidth connections gave rise to on-demand entertainment expectations.