Nearly two decades after its release revolutionized the music industry, iTunes will cease to exist. Apple will announce the end of the iTunes era at its World Developers Conference next Monday, replacing the multimedia content store with separate applications for music, television and podcasts on the computers of its users, reports Bloomberg.
This separation has already taken place on iPhones and iPads, and comes after years of rumors that Apple was trying to discontinue iTunes and its antiquated 'software'. It is expected that the new Music application will still allow users to buy digital songs, a consumption method that is decreasing in the streaming age.
However, the disappearance of iTunes marks a symbolic end for the company, which brought the music industry into the digital era at a time when it was facing piracy problems.