Winamp was an iconic media player of the ’90s, providing music fans and creators alike with easy, intuitive media playback capabilities that revolutionized how they experienced music. Today it still holds over 83 million listeners globally!
Now, the company behind Winamp is reintroducing their platform with services tailored specifically towards music creators, with an aim of liberating music by breaking down barriers between artists and their biggest supporters.
Online Services
Winamp was once an indispensable player for PC-based MP3 sharing services, but has fallen from favor as people increasingly turn to smartphones and streaming music apps for music consumption. Llama Group, who owns Winamp in Belgium, are attempting to revive it through web software designed for streaming music while connecting creators with their fans.
These new versions won’t attempt to mimic the old Winamp of MP3 glory days. Computers have changed significantly since then, and modern desktop computer screens would make a classic version look even smaller than a floppy disk on them. Instead, this new Winamp will support streaming internet radio stations, podcasts, digital music formats (such as AAC), local audio playback and much more!
No one knows for certain which traditional features will return, and even those that do could pose difficulties in today’s competitive streaming apps and dedicated media player environments. Many advanced media players offer features not considered essential during MP3 era, making it challenging for Winamp to attract users.
At its height, Winamp boasted around 83 million monthly users worldwide; this figure has since declined as streaming services gain in popularity. A reboot could help reach younger audiences more effectively; however, it must include features that match or surpass more advanced competitors.
One feature that will prove vitally important is Fanzone, a Patreon-esque service that gives artists another way to connect with fans and sell exclusive NFTs. Furthermore, it enables artists to manage copyrights, license their music for streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music, as well as distribute songs through its store.
Recently, Winamp had been available as a free download. Due to rising online advertising costs and costs associated with hosting download services, however, Winamp has now become a paid-subscription product. Version 5.9 RC1 Build 9999 is now available for Windows 7 SP1 users with more features planned post testing. The release notes indicate four years of work, including pandemic-induced interruptions; yet more are upcoming!
SHOUTcast
Winamp was one of the most widely used programs during the early 2000s when MP3 sharing services became widespread, making it a highly desirable media player with its customizable plugin and skin ecosystem. Not only could it play almost every type of music file but what truly set it apart was its ability to stream digital audio content over the internet.
As music companies found ways to sell music securely online and the industry transitioned away from downloading MP3s towards streaming, the need for standalone players such as Winamp began to diminish – although Winamp maintained an unexpectedly resilient user base.
SHOUTcast was instrumental in keeping Radionomy going thanks to its SHOUTcast service, enabling any computer with a compatible browser to connect with a server hosting broadcast audio content and then deliver that content over the internet as MP3 or High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding files to media players capable of reading them. Music enthusiasts typically utilize SHOUTcast servers for creating their own internet radio stations; schools may use them for practicing listening skills or hosting special events.
Now, after years of disuse and changes in ownership, Winamp is making efforts to reinvent itself. While its latest release candidate can only be found online and features limited capabilities at launch, it shows that its developers still care about improving it.
The biggest changes to this program lie beneath its surface: Visual Studio 2008 code has been upgraded to Visual Studio 2019 so as to support modern digital audio formats and streaming services in due time. Other changes include aligning it more closely with Windows look-and-feel as well as bug fixes.
Winamp plans to add streaming functionality into its desktop version soon and is in discussions with several music creators to set up shop on Fanzone – with the goal of expanding to over 250 million users by appealing to a younger demographic of superfans willing to spend money and engage with artists of their choice.
Fanzone
At its height of popularity in the late ’90s, Winamp was recognized as one of the premier MP3 players available. Boasting an intuitive user-friendly interface and support for custom Skins and plugins that allowed users to personalize the look of the player further, as well as compatibility with most digital audio formats at that time, it quickly became a go-to choice among music fans worldwide.
Recent changes to Winamp have brought it into the streaming era, as its current owner, Brussels-based Llama Group, has rebranded it under the name Fanzone and promises an improved user experience that will enable artists and their fans to connect more closely.
The new platform will offer features similar to streaming services, including online radio stations, podcasts and downloadable content. Users will also have the chance to connect with creators through a tiered subscription model that can allow them to purchase exclusive merchandise and gain access to other perks. It is tailored towards musicians who feel as if they are losing out with streaming platforms’ rise, while supporting independent artists at the same time.
Planning a fan zone for an event requires careful forethought. Proper preparation will allow you to create an enjoyable fan experience, which will engage your target audience and increase event attendance. Some key aspects include venue size, parking options and accessibility as well as entertainment types offered and how best to promote it.
Athleticians at both the college and professional levels often struggle to monetize their NIL across various sources, especially when income from those sources is scattered among multiple sources. Fanzone’s monetization features can help maximize earnings while forging stronger bonds with fans via direct messaging and video chat services like those offered through direct messaging or scheduling them ahead of time. Athletes can set their price for these services and schedule them whenever best suits them, as well as create discussion threads where fans can join.
Media Library
Winamp may no longer have its heyday, but it still provides users with many useful features. After installation, Winamp guides you through a four step setup process that includes selecting a skin, file associations and online services as well as collecting feedback statistics for usage analytics.
The Media Library in Winamp offers access and organization over local media files. Here, you can add, delete and edit bookmarks for online streams as well as local music or video files such as audio or video files. It also features a history view which keeps track of when and how often these media are played through Winamp; particularly helpful when used with jukeboxes or media servers at parties and events!
A separate tab provides you with control over how media files are read from their metadata tags when being imported into the Media Library. Here, you can choose whether artist, album and genre information is taken directly from filename or MP3 tag data; additionally there is also an option to rescan media folders at specified intervals for new media.
Other settings and options that you can configure include being able to rip Audio CDs, select an encoding format when exporting playlists, choose where podcasts will be downloaded from and even altering the visual style of your Media Library tree by either enabling or disabling icons next to each media item.
Configure Winamp Portables and USB Thumbdrives with “Sync” and “Autofill” settings to download the most up-to-date media to these devices, especially useful when updating podcast subscriptions or synchronizing music between computer and portable device.
There are various settings you can change in Winamp, but most will have no noticeable impact on its functionality or appearance. Without a developer providing it with an update, it might be hard for Winamp to compete against other media players out there.
