Apple have released an update to iTunes but you might not want to download it just yet.
In the digital equivalent to shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, the new update disables the ability to share music libraries over anything other than a local network.
This is a shame. I was enjoying listening to other people share their music over the internet. Essentially, it’s like having a really small listening party - no more than five people can connect to the same music library at one time. I’m able to listen to whole albums by say, The Flaming Lips and Coldplay instead of just hearing the singles when they happen to come on the radio. It makes me want to go out and buy the albums.
I can’t download the songs, I can only listen in to somebody’s private radio station broadcasting somebody’s private mix-tape.
For a while, I thought I was witnessing the future of legal peer to peer music promotion. Looks like the dream is over.