Do you remember only using an iPod? What started as Apple’s focal point for all thing’s music and entertainment, became a common nuisance for many music listeners. What does this mean for new aspiring artists? Additionally, as the world continues to prioritise streaming sites, does iTunes have enough strength to stay alive?
Do you remember when you received your first Apple product? It feels like it was just yesterday when I obtained my first iPod Nano that came with iTunes.
I could recall the feeling of touching the technology of the future for the very first time.
The smooth texture only complemented its musical usage. The set up seemed effortless. To begin the musical listening journey through the many Apple products, the creation of an Apple account was apparent.
At the time, the only entertainment attainable was through iTunes. Developed for only Apple products, iTunes was a media player, library, and internet radio app for the iTunes store.
This entity would revolutionise the music industry and catapult music into the internet world.
However, what started as the most popular source of music and entertainment access, can iTunes stand to compete against the latest music streaming services?
The iTunes Rollercoaster
With the new updated software, the original functions of iTunes disintegrated over two decades.
What used to be the action of syncing devices to a computer to download music, is almost an extinct action in 2021.
In 2001, founder Steve Jobs announced Apple’s iTunes efforts as their digital hub strategy. It was marketed as the focal point for all things interaction with technological communication and served as an all-in-one handheld organiser used to make life more efficient.
This philosophy led to the advancement in the iTunes video and podcasts in 2005. iTunes Books would later develop in 2010.
When the game-changing cellular device, the iPhone, hit the technological stage, iTunes was a driving force and strong companion into the development of the Apple Empire.
However, issues transcended as the software became devalued and non-nurtured. With a lack of updated material, iTunes became more of a nuisance than a luxury.
The system also limited downloaded material and seemed to be a money grabber, as it capitalized on the various pillars of payment regarding downloaded space.
However, the rollercoaster of iTunes began to reach momentum again as it progressed to Windows support.
This meant that Windows users were allowed to implement the system and begin accessing Apple products without their complete purchase.
Music’s Fear
According to TheVerge.com, Apple was so popular that the music industry feared for life itself. In 2012, total revenues for the music industry fell to $15 billion from $20 billion in physical CD sales alone in 2003.
However, the iTunes ride is beginning to crash for good. The reality is that the use of managing individual music libraries isn’t as important anymore.
With the development of Apple Music, iTunes seems to not show great importance anymore due to the world of streaming.
Why? Simply because people do not buy music anymore; they buy monthly streaming apps, filled with an abundance of music and entertainment.
iTunes For Artists
“I bought your second album on iTunes!” my mum muttered proudly the day my album was released last month.
Memories filled my head as I was startled by the current usage of the musical app in today’s music market.
Apple has neglected to maintain the recently popular musical entity which led to its demise. It would not be a surprise if Apple discontinues the service completely in the next upcoming years.
For artists, these entities are amazing to gain revenue as opposed to streaming sites. Due to the lack of usage, it could be artistic suicide to only promote music through ancient software.
An artist needs to utilise all online musical outlets to ensure listeners from all internet avenues.
Many artists will bypass uploading content to iTunes based on their biased understanding. This is the worst mindset to have for an artist of any degree.
With $0.99 per song, the prehistoric model of buying music almost seems alienist but maybe the last promising musical site for an artist to earn an easy financial gain.
The greatest advice for new artists hitting the online world would be to invest in a solid distribution company to distribute the music across the streaming/music purchasing board.
Music distribution websites such as Distrokid and TuneCore not only upload your music to sites like iTunes, but also sites such as Amazon in efforts to gain more income.
Although fading into the online background, it seems that iTunes can still serve as a prominent purpose for an artist. However, don’t rely on ancient music services for much longer.
Photos: Shutterstock / Photomontage: Martina Advaney
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