Apple to say goodbye to iTunes after 18 years

The tech giant wants to replace the app with a new trio of apps, according to reports.

Video above: How does Apple generate so much hype of it's products?

Eighteen years after its birth, Apple is set to shut down the iTunes app, replacing it with three with separate platforms: music, TV, and movies.

Launched in 2001, less than a year before Steve Jobs introduced the iPod, iTunes cemented Apple as a leader in the tech industry.

The platform was inspired by Napster, an illegal file sharing service that peaked with 80 million users and eventually shut down by the US courts, when Steve Jobs recognised music consumers wanted to download their music - even if it wasn't free.

Users could load their CDs onto the program and into their iPod, or buy music directly from the iTunes store.

Since its launch, more than 25 billion songs have been downloaded and more than 350 million iPods have been sold.

Users will be able to manage their music libraries across their devices via the Music app.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple chief executive Tim Cook will make the announcement during his keynote address at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference in California on Monday.

Since the launch of iTunes, other music services have superseded its popularity, namely Spotify, which launched in 2008.

A wave of nostalgia posts have flooded social media to mark the end of an era that saw the demise of the mp3 player, discman and ultimately, the CD.