90s favorite music player Winamp is set to make a comeback with a host of new features. The latest version of Winamp will be OS independent smartphone music app. The audio app will be a spot to host all of one’s audio songs, podcasts and streaming services to “hang out”.
Winamp was quite a popular music app in its heyday. It still wants to be in the limelight and wants to bring back its userbase into the new era of WinAmp. The company wants to earn back its fans loyalty, so the original desktop app is going to get updated as well.
Winamp’s demise can be blamed on AOL’s difficult buyout and stiff competition from Apple iTunes. These factors led to the demise of Winamp, though it still has a large cult following among its fans.
Winamp got its last major update back in 2013. It still works pretty well, but it still has the old retro feel to it. Its largely been kept alive due to its massive loyal fans. So massive updates can be expected soon.
Radionomy, the online radio station bought Winamp back in 2014. CEO of Radionomy Alexandre Saboundjian said, “There will be a completely new version next year, with the legacy of Winamp but a more complete listening experience. You can listen to the MP3s you may have at home, but also to the cloud, to podcasts, to streaming radio stations, to a playlist you perhaps have built.”
He believes people want a complete experience, and Winamp is the perfect medium for that experience. Saboundjian said that he wants to make Winamp available on every device. Winamp has been around the block for decades, and it doesn’t look like its going anywhere soon.
The media player has around hundred million monthly users, most of whom reside outside of the US. These figures alone would be enough to convince anybody about revamping the media player.
Many users don’t know these figures and think that Winamp is dead, because it hasn’t been updated in ages. The last update was 5.666. Winamp version 5.8 will come out in a few days, 18th October to be exact.
This should help ease Winamp users who were facing compatibility issues on their Windows 10 devices.
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These things happen a lot since almost everyone is buying some old forgotten tech company, rebranding or selling it later. Amidst such chaos, consumers are left picking the leftovers.
Saboundjian reassures that this will be not the case this time. The major update Winamp 6.0 will come out in 2019.
This update will make Winamp a complete suite, which means users will have their podcast listening, radio streaming and music playlists all in one place. This special spot will be specifically geared towards Android and iOS users.
Saboundjian hasn’t revealed how exactly the app will extract audio media from various sources such as Google Music, Spotify playlists and Audible audiobooks.
But I and every other WinAmp fan have something massive to look forward to.
