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macOS: New Details on the Music Player in 10.15

John Martellaro ·

Cult of Mac reports:

Some sources previously stated that the [macOS 10.15 Music] app would be made using Marzipan, which lets developers easily port iPad apps to the desktop. But new information reveals that won’t be the case.

In fact,

The Mac’s next-generation Music app will be based on iTunes, not ported over from iOS.

This makes some sense. The legacy macOS iTunes has a lot of Mac-specific code, including iOS device syncing and encrypted backups. But it’s probably also just phase one in the evolution of iTunes/Music on the Mac.

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Physical Music Purchases Surpass iTunes Downloads

Andrew Orr ·

Sales of physical music media, like CDs and vinyls, have surpassed the number of people downloading music from iTunes. Which makes sense because everyone else has moved on to streaming music, which accounted for 75% of revenue last year for the recording industry.

Downloads represented just 11 percent of US labels’ revenue last year, a music industry trade group said Thursday. Physical sales — the term for music formats you can actually hold, which are mostly CDs and vinyl at this point — booked 12 percent.

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Email Scams Increasingly Involve iTunes Gift Cards

Andrew Orr ·

Email scams are increasingly involving iTunes gift cards, instead of the old wire transfers. Lily Hay Newman as the scoop.

This trend is on the rise among scammers, both for individual targets and organizations. The Federal Trade Commission reported in October that 26 percent of people who report being scammed in 2018 said they bought or reloaded a gift card to deliver the money, up from seven percent in 2015. The FTC says that gift card-related losses reported to the agency totaled $20 million in 2015, $27 million in 2016, $40 million in 2017, and $53 million in the first nine months of 2018 alone.

You can Make Kerala Flood Relief Donations in iTunes
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You can Make Kerala Flood Relief Donations in iTunes

Jeff Gamet ·

The devastating floods in Kerala left a million people at least temporarily homeless, and 445 dead with more bodies being discovered. Over 50,000 houses were destroyed, and more than 6,200 miles of roads have been lost. Apple donated US$1 million to the relief fund, and you can help out, too. Apple added Mercy Corps donation buttons to the iTunes Store ranging from US$5 to $200. Like other relief funds Apple has supported, 100% of the money goes to the charity—Apple doesn’t take its usual 30% cut.