Apple might just be about to save music lovers from the bloated disaster that is iTunes

“Sometimes even the most revolutionary things become obsolete,” Alex Perry writes for Mashable. “Such is the case with iTunes, Apple’s once-incredible music management app. iTunes is approaching its 20th year of existence and, while there are logistical reasons why Apple can’t simply say goodbye to the ancient app, it’s finally time to put it in a home.”
“The good news is it seems like Apple might do just that,” Perry writes. “The 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference is next week and Apple’s keynote address is expected to feature plenty of software announcements, including standalone apps for Music and Podcasts (among others) for macOS.”

I am now fairly confident based on evidence I don't wish to make public at this point that Apple is planning new (likely UIKit) Music, Podcasts, perhaps even Books, apps for macOS, to join the new TV app. I expect the four to be the next wave of Marzipan apps. Grain of salt, etc
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) April 5, 2019

“This could be great news for music lovers who like to organize and listen to their tunes on macOS. The iTunes app is famously slow and painful to use,” Perry writes. “While it was revelatory when digital music libraries were still novel and exciting, it eventually became bloated with the inclusion of podcasts, audiobooks, TV shows, and movies.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: While iTunes will linger, likely for many years, it’s slow death will make life easier for users.
Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. — Steve Jobs
Obviously we’ve long believed that breaking apart iTunes into individual apps is an excellent idea:
Apple, especially under Steve Jobs, has shown a great and admirable willingness to cannibalize themselves. They obliterated their iPod business with the iPhone, for one example. But, when it comes to iTunes, they seem paralyzed by fear of change. Apple paralyzed by fear is not a pretty thing and it doesn’t yield pretty things. It yields hot messes like iTunes.
iTunes screams to be broken up into separate, streamlined apps. It’s been screaming that for years. But Apple seems to be scared silly to do so — perhaps 800+ million credit cards have something to do with it — so they’ve tinkered around the edges, making questionable tweaks here an there and bolting on even more bloat.
Grow a pair, Apple, and do what needs to be done already. — MacDailyNews Take, July 17, 2015
Related articles:
Apple’s macOS 10.15 will include standalone Music, Podcasts, and TV apps – April 10, 2019
It looks like Apple is finally about to kill iTunes – April 9, 2019