Apple is set to kill off its iTunes-based social network, Ping, in the music player's next update, according to reports.

First launched in 2010, Ping has never resonated with consumers, and with Apple looking to deepen its integration with successful networks like Facebook and Twitter it's logical the company would want to stop flogging its own dead horse.

Apple CEO Tim Cook had already indicated that the service wasn't going well, admitting in his address to All Things Digital's D10 conference recently that it wasn't something customers wanted to ‘put a lot of energy into'.

The plan to kill off the service was first revealed by the same publisher, which said it ‘makes perfect sense' to ‘leave the social stuff to the social people who are good at it'.

Other providers of music services like Rdio and Spotify have relied heavily on social integration to attract users, the latter even pairing with Facebook on the social network's ‘listen with' app.

Ping is likely to be discontinued the next version of iTunes, due out this Spring.