Stay Calm! Apple Did NOT Just Kill Music Downloads

For the many, the announcement that Apple is "killing" iTunes also meant that Apple was also killing its music download store. In fact, iTunes on the Mac is just being divided into three separate apps for music, podcasts and TV. And the iconic music download store lives on, at least for now.

"Users will have access to their entire music library, whether they downloaded the songs, purchased them or ripped them from a CD," says Apple. "For those who like to own their music, the iTunes Music Store is just a click away."

Apple has been warning labels that the music download store won't last forever, however. After all, download sales are falling, as more users embrace music streaming. 

via MIDiA

Artists concerned with the future of downloads may want to point their fans to their own website, Bandcamp or other direct to fan download options which also have the benefit of paying better.