Apple Music killing off iTunes LP after almost ten years

After nearly ten years, Apple is killing off its iTunes LP initiative.

The tech giant has advised in an internal email no more submissions will be accepted from this month, and it will be scrapped by the end of the year.

According to the email, “Existing LPs will be deprecated from the store during the remainder of 2018.

“Customers who have previously purchased an album containing an iTunes LP will still be able to download the additional content using iTunes Match.”

Apple introduced iTunes LP in 2009 in a “reinterpretation” of the album (or long player or LP).

It bundled albums with art, lyrics, sleeve notes, videos, photos, long term documentaries, bonus tracks and any other features that ardent fans would have.

Theoretically, it was another way for musicians to create stronger bonds with their following.

But the take-up of the offer was low, not helped by the fact that the LPs aren’t optimized for iPhone and iPad.

The axing of a low-return scheme like iTunes LP comes as Apple diverts more energy and resources to newer ways of consumption by Apple customers.

Interestingly, as they move from “buying” to “renting” via streaming, iTunes LP was inevitably doomed.

With a greater focus across-the-board on video, Version 2.4.0 of Apple Music for Android has just been released with additional features for music video playback and stability improvements.

Music videos have been available on Android since 2016.

Customers can now watch music videos in fullscreen or inside the Now Playing view, and add them to playlists.

Revenue figures for Q1 2018, released last month, show that revenue from its digital content and services – which includes Apple Music and App Store – continues to grow significantly year on year.

The division accounted for $8.5 billion in the quarter (ending December 31), and up 18% year on year.

Apple’s total revenue was $88.3 billion.

Paid subscriptions passed 240 million by the end of the December quarter, which Apple says is an increase of $30 million in the last 90 days alone, the largest quarterly growth ever.

Apple CEO Tim Cook says Apple is well on its way to reaching its goal to double its services revenue by 2020.