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Digital DJ Tips recently posted an official recommendation to DJs. The editors are publicly advising DJs to not use iTunes anymore. They make the point (several points, actually) that the platform isn’t designed for DJs and so it doesn’t function well for us.

With its emphasis on movies, TV shows, podcasts, and a whole host of media apart from music, the editors suggest that iTunes’ focus is off music. That means that its functionality, at least for DJs, has diminished. They go so far as to say that “Apple is likely to terminate music downloads altogether soon” (digitaldjtips.com). Seriously? With the rise of other music streaming platforms, like Spotify, I just don’t see Apple wanting to get out of that market. It’s true that much of the general public might be more interested in streaming than downloading music, but I can’t believe that will spell the end of downloads anytime within the foreseeable future.

The editors’ biggest beef is with iTunes’ functionality … or lack thereof. I can’t argue with that. I’ve been a Mac owner for decades, and I can attest to the fact that in Apple’s push to corner marketshare, its desire to make a truly useful and functional product has fallen by the wayside. I don’t want to suggest that Macs are horrible products. I still think they’re amazing. But, when I remember how efficient my old Macs were compared to my new one, I do notice a difference. So, for DJs, the fact that iTunes isn’t stellar at tagging, sorting, making cue points easily visible, etc. is a problem. But, I don’t see those issues as a reason to walk away from iTunes. Instead, let’s pressure Apple to pay attention to us and our needs.

I think the real problem is that most of us expect technology to work perfectly all the time because we’ve come to rely on it so completely. DJing was born out of technology. It’s only natural that we’d incorporate it even more into how we work. So, when technology fails us, it’s a huge hassle. Still, that’s not a reason to dump a platform entirely.

What do you think? Should DJs drop iTunes entirely? Check out the article that inspired my response here.