Apple Music Connect joins Ping in the graveyard of Apple services

For Apple, music and social just don’t mix. 

According to 9to5Mac, the company is quietly killing the social component of its Apple Music service, Connect. 

Apple has reportedly been sending artists on Apple Music a notice saying they won’t be able to post to Connect anymore. 

“Today we’re streamlining music discovery by removing Connect posts from Artist Pages and For You. This means you’ll no longer be able to post to Connect as of December 13, 2018, but all previously uploaded content will still be searchable until May 24, 2019,” the notice said. 

A support document on Apple’s webpage confirms this, saying, “Connect posts from artists are no longer supported.”

Since the primary purpose of Connect was for artists to, well, connect with fans, this likely means the feature is being completely shuttered down by May. Apple is currently still able to post on Connect, though. 

This is not the first time Apple has tried — and failed — to add a social component to its music service. Ping, which launched in 2010 as part of iTunes, was closed just two years later and replaced by integration with third-party social services such as Twitter. 

Even if Connect is on its way out, Apple Music still retains a few social features, including the ability for users to follow each other, as well as Friends Mix, a playlist that contains music recommended by your friends. 

Representatives for Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.