'Winamp-As-A-Service' Introduces Winamp That Goes Far Beyond A Music Player

Back in the earlier days of the internet, for most of those people, it was the glorious 1990s.

At that time, Winamp was "king" because people were downloading MP3 files from the internet, Napster still ruled because dial-up internet only allowed that much kilobytes per second, and people had no idea of the millennium 'Y2K' bug.

During those few years, people enjoyed the magical world of Winamp, with its skeuomorphic design resembling shelf stereos, gorgeous visualizations that matched audio frequencies, cutting-edge features like the color-changing volume slider, the skins, and more.

Winamp, which has an llama as a mascot, also offered endless customizations, thanks to the array of mods built by the community of users.

But with streaming media, and subscription-based platforms, where people could simply pay for an amount of money to listen to any song imaginable, Winamp became a relic of the past.

But that doesn't mean it's dead.

Because according to its website, it has a "new Winamp Player" that is able to bring "your streaming services, podcasts, radio stations, audio books and downloads together."

Read: 'Winamp Skin Museum' Is A Tribute To A Software That Rules Music Before The Internet

What this means, the player is no longer restricted to just a music player.

Winamp has become a place where users can put all their medias in one place, in one customizable experience.

With "the legendary Winamp Player," Winamp said, it's goal is to become "the ultimate music machine empowering listeners, creators and fans."

The move marks the departure of Winamp as a software business model, to embrace the more modern Winamp as a service approach.

It began back in 2018, when Radionomy's CEO Alexandre Saboundjian announced that a new version of Winamp – then called Winamp 6 – would be released in 2019.

Building upon that strategy, the April 2023 redesigned Winamp introduces Winamp as an online service.

While it does retain the original Winamp Player to play local audio files, which has been redesigned, Winamp the music streaming service is finally embracing the internet with plans to integrate itself with other music platforms, such as Spotify.

What this means, the platform can become an aggregator of online, third-party audio sources.

Another feature of the new platform is Winamp Fanzone, where artists can upload and license their music for commercial use, and listeners can support artists directly by buying perks, such as early access to new songs or NFTs.

Read: Music Player Winamp Adds Support For Blockchain-Based NFT Music Library

Winamp was truly the favorite software for many millennials around the world, a staple when CD Players were still the thing, and many PCs still had a 'CD burners'.

But when the internet came into play, It couldn't compete with this technology, and failed to keep up with how things shifted.

Winamp was originally developed by Justin Frankel and Dmitry Boldyrev by their company Nullsoft, before it was acquired by AOL in 1999 for $80 million, two years after the software's initial release.

Since the decline, there had been multiple attempts to kill Winamp.

But its death never happened.

Instead, it was acquired by Radionomy in 2014, a Belgian audio platform, as part of a deal for the entire Nullsoft brand. It was only after this, that Radionomy evolved into the Llama Group.

This time, the company claims to have more than 80 million users worldwide. But with the redesign and change, Winamp eyes for a much bigger target: 250 million users.

According to Alexandre Saboundjian, CEO of Llama Group, Winamp’s "challenger spirit" was needed more than ever in the streaming era.

"With the new Winamp player, our aim is to empower creators to make more money, at a time when they really need it," Saboundjian said. "Winamp’s mission is to change the mindset of artists — from one where they feel like victims of poor revenues from the DSPs, to one of empowerment about what they can achieve by themselves."

The change could certainly help Winamp achieve that goal.

By becoming more modern, and by supporting third-party apps and the community of artists, the Winamp as a service could indeed reach users far beyond just the millennials it awed decades back.

The thing is, this new Winamp is no longer the Winamp those older fans love.

In short, Winamp has a bigger target, but at the same time, pursuing that may not allow it to revive the memories of Winamp’s vintage years.

While the new app may offer some market differentiation, some fans may be disappointed.

Winamp is no longer nostalgic.

It may no longer be the king.

But as a business, it does it for a reason, because the show must go on.