Tuning out

Not so very long ago, the death of iTunes would have seemed unimaginable. But the platform has become clunky and it seems that the stratospheric popularity of streaming has killed it off.

Previously downloaded music won't be lost as a result of Apple's decision - instead, it'll be automatically migrated to the Apple Music app and accessible for no additional cost. But the switch does highlight how little control consumers have over the digital material they own. At least you know where you stand with an LP or CD on a shelf.

That said, the rise of streaming suggests that music ownership in any form - physical or digital - is an alien or quaintly old-fashioned concept to a very large number of people. As someone who still believes in the idea of a record collection, I'm clearly an outlier.