iTunes and Safari. I hate both. I especially hate iTunes. It is something that should be ripped out of Mac OS/macOS/NeXT and burned with napalm. In 5 years time, when the iTunes department splits out from apple, borgs systemd project then launches its own OS that will ensure that you never have to see a 'pesky commandline' again so you don't develop worry lines because of concentration...but develop an ulcer instead out of frustration...
Remember. You heard it hear first.
Anyway, we all know browsers that allow us to not use Safari. But for a music player that works well, is simple, will run flac and doesnt' consume excessive CPU on a mac (I liked clementine - but it soaked up cpu cycles like it was creating bitcoins) then try Swinsian.
Oh, you have to pay for it at some point. Which for working, decent software, I don't mind doing. I'm odd that way...