In October 2019 Apple is releasing the next version of macOS, named 10.15 Catalina. When Catalina is released it will delete iTunes from the Applications folder of every mac that is upgraded.
The replacement for Catalina is called ‘Music’ but this app will remove a feature that many DJs use to sync their playlists from iTunes to Serato, rekordbox, Traktor, VirtualDJ, and other DJ Software. This feature is called the ‘iTunes Music XML File’ and is a text file that contains all your playlists and information about your tracks.
It’s unclear at the moment which DJ Software manufacturers are going to issue software upgrades in the next few weeks before Catalina is released.
In addition, there is a further complication with Catalina which is that DJ hardware may no longer work as the software used for the hardware drivers in Catalina can only use the new 64bit software format, and many are still using the old 32bit format. This could cause all sorts of compatibility issues as hardware manufacturers scramble to release driver updates.
We, therefore, want to let as many DJs around the world know that if they are using iTunes they shouldn’t upgrade their Macs until they are confident their DJ software supports the new Music app.
