Future of iTunes and audio files in its library
It is not a rumor - it has been officially announced by Apple that iTunes is going away. It is going to be replaced by Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple Podcasts in the next release of macOS named Catalina.

In practice you'll just start using the Apple Music program for listening to your old ripped CDs instead of using iTunes - so this is definitely not a dead-end. Your iTunes Library will be carried over automatically.

Catalina Features