Winamp Partners With Deezer to Launch a New Streaming Player

If you used a computer in the early 2000s, you might remember Winamp, the media player known for its psychedelic visualizations and skins. You might be surprised to hear that the company is still around, and that last month, it even announced a strategic partnership with music streaming platform Deezer.

In a press release, Deezer explains the aim of the collaboration. “Under the agreement, Deezer will provide its white-label music streaming technology and global music catalogue, enabling Winamp to launch its own premium subscription offering under the Winamp brand. The service will be fully integrated into the new Winamp Player and delivered as a native Winamp experience,” it says.

The next-generation Winamp Player is expected to launch in the first half of 2027 and will allow users to combine a streaming catalog with their local music libraries, internet radio stations, podcasts, and personal cloud collections in one app.

Winamp's CEO, Alexandre Saboundjian, explains: "Winamp has always been about giving users the freedom to experience music their own way. Twenty-five years ago we changed the way people listened to digital music, and we believe the time has come to challenge the listening experience once again. This partnership with Deezer gives us access to world-class streaming technology and one of the richest music catalogues in the world, allowing us to focus on what matters most: building a unique Winamp product that brings together everything users want to listen to in one place."

Those who remember Winamp might be wondering whether any of this is relevant, while others might not know what the player was about in the first place. So before we continue, let's take a quick look at the company's history, because what Winamp was and what it does today might surprise you.

Winamp was launched in April 1997 by Justin Frankel and co-developer Dmitry Boldyrev through their company Nullsoft. It was developed to provide a fast and practical music player for the then-new MP3 format on Windows.

Once released, the player quickly gained popularity and moved from freeware to a paid model. With MP3s becoming increasingly popular, people downloaded it anyway despite the fact that paying did not unlock any extra features. What's impressive is that it spread mainly through word of mouth without any major marketing efforts behind it. By 2000, the player had roughly 25 million registered users, and by 2001 that number had climbed to around 60 million.

One of Winamp's most notable features was its music visualizer with real-time animated graphics that moved in sync with the music. It became one of the defining features of the player and a big reason many people still remember it today. The player also allowed for extensive customization. Users could apply different skins to change the interface, while a plugin architecture let outside developers extend most parts of the app.

In 1999, the founders sold their company to AOL for roughly $80 million in stock. However, the relationship between the developers and AOL quickly deteriorated. Frankel and his team clashed with its corporate priorities almost immediately. Ultimately, he decided to leave the company in 2004.

Development slowed under AOL. Around the same time, Apple's iPod and iTunes began offering a more integrated and portable listening experience that took more users away. Later, streaming services like Spotify made managing local MP3 files unnecessary for many people. Winamp's user base kept shrinking, and in late 2013, AOL announced it would shut the player down entirely.

Although AOL intended to shut donw Winamp, the player never actually disappeared. In January 2014, Belgian internet-radio company Radionomy bought it from AOL to keep the classic desktop player alive. Winamp continued to receive occasional updates, including a 2022 release with Windows 11 support.

Winamp's bigger revival came under Llama Group (now Winamp Group), which relaunched the brand in 2022 and gradually shifted its focus toward artists. In 2024, it launched Winamp for Creators, a platform offering digital distribution, artist subscriptions, sync licensing, YouTube Content ID, playlist pitching, and advertising tools.

Today, Winamp has two main sides: the classic desktop player, which remains in use worldwide, and Winamp for Creators, its newer platform for artists. By 2025, Winamp Group said the creator platform had surpassed 75,000 artists.

Winamp has tried several comebacks over the past decade, most recently through its creator platform. The Deezer deal, however, takes a different and more significant approach by adapting the player to the modern-day streaming era. And, instead of building its own streaming catalog and infrastructure, Winamp can use Deezer's existing technology and licensed music catalog while keeping its own branding and interface.

The partnership also makes sense for Deezer, which can provide the technology and catalog while Winamp brings a recognizable brand and an existing audience. Plenty is still unconfirmed, though, and no working version of the new player has been shown publicly. For now, this is a partnership with a planned 2027 release, not a finished product.

Although for now, Winamp remains a relatively niche platform, it can be useful for independent artists wanting to connect with a new audience. Because the new player will use Deezer's licensed music catalog, artists whose music is available on Deezer could potentially reach Winamp users without needing to do anything specifically for the new service.

Winamp's audience may be smaller than the audiences of the major streaming platforms, but it has always had a strong connection to people who are interested in music. The original player attracted users who cared about building and customizing their own music libraries, and some of that niche appeal could carry over to the new player.

Right now, it's still too early to know how significant that audience will become. Winamp has not yet revealed how discovery, playlists, recommendations, or artist promotion will work in the new player. But if the service attracts even a dedicated niche audience, it could give artists another place for their music to be heard through their existing Deezer distribution.