A FAREWELL TO THE iTUNES LP

After news initially leaked in an email obtained by metro, Apple has confirmed with The Verge that they will no longer be accepting LP submissions on iTunes.

According to the leaked email "Apple will no longer accept new submissions of iTunes LPs after March 2018.” Additionally, “existing LPs will be deprecated from the store during the remainder of 2018.” The email also noted that the extra content on previous and newly purchased LPs will continue to be available to download with iTunesMatch.

iTunes had introduced its own digital rendition of the LP back in 2009. It included art, lyrics, bonus tracks, videos and other fan-targeted material. There had never been a lot of albums on the iTunes platform that featured the multi-media and excitement over digital material, notably not formatted for iPads or iPhones, was lukewarm.

That said, the Q1 earnings for Apple this year show its Services division to have amassed a cool $8.4b. That revenue includes the App Store, Apple Music, iTunes and more. Dropping the LP isn’t a reflection of a need on Apple's part to downsize so much as an effort to change with times that are far more interested in streaming music than purchasing downloads.

Meanwhile, as downloads are fading into the rearview, streaming is stepping on the gas. Apple CarPlay is now standard technology in new Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Volkswagen vehicles. The service has GPS and gives traffic updates, it sends and receives texts or calls and streams music. In an attempt at boosting paid subscriptions down the road, Apple Music is offering a six-month free trial to new FCA and VW car owners with CarPlay starting in May.