Ars Technica:

As part of a slate of upcoming software updates, Apple will close the door on one of its most iconic pieces of software: iTunes. The company will split the application up into multiple, more-focused apps on the Mac: Apple Music for music, Apple TV for TV and movies, and Apple Podcasts for podcasts.

Going forward, Mac users will be able to sync their iOS devices’ music libraries in the Mac’s Finder. The backup-and-restore functionality for iOS devices that currently exists in iTunes will also be available in the Finder. Apple also did not say how existing users will be able to port media libraries from iTunes to the new apps. Apple didn’t mention books today, but much of iTunes’ book and audiobook functionality was already moved to Apple’s Books apps.

While most functionality offered by iTunes will still be offered, just in different applications, the sunsetting of iTunes marks something of an end of an era for the music industry.

iTunes was amazing but it had become too big and unwieldy for many users. Splitting it into its component parts makes sense.