It really whips the llama’s ass, and apparently it is not done yet. Winamp, the music player millions of us loaded up before Spotify existed, is planning another comeback. This time it has real streaming behind it.
Winamp and Deezer announced a partnership on Wednesday that will let Deezer power a new Winamp premium subscription. Deezer supplies the white-label streaming technology and its global licensed catalogue. Winamp keeps its own brand, its own look, and its own idea of how a music player should feel.
The deal sits inside a bigger relaunch. A next-generation Winamp Player is due in the first half of 2027, pitched as a way to “reinvent the music player for the streaming era.”
One player to rule them all
The pitch is a single app that holds everything. Streaming tracks would sit next to your local music files, internet radio, podcasts and personal cloud collections, all in one place. Winamp is promising a customisable interface and social features on top.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
That is a real contrast with today’s Spotify-shaped world, where your files and your subscription live in separate silos. For anyone who missed the days of dragging MP3s into a skinnable player, it is a genuinely appealing promise.
There is a decent audience waiting. Winamp says its free desktop player is still actively used by more than 40 million people. It also fits a broader mood: retro tech is having a moment, from cassettes to MP3 players to iPods.
The catch, and the history
The obvious question is whether anyone wants to pay for yet another subscription. The market is crowded with Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music, and it is increasingly flooded with AI-generated tracks. Deezer, the partner here, has said roughly half of its daily uploads are now AI, and it has started policing them.
Winamp’s own record is the other catch. A 2023 artist-focused redesign did not land. A 2024 open-source release ran into a licensing row. Chief executive Alexandre Saboundjian even made a near-identical “unify everything” pitch back in 2019.
The difference this time, the company argues, is that there is real streaming infrastructure underneath, rather than a fresh coat of paint. Whether nostalgia converts into paying subscribers is the test that has tripped up plenty of streaming hopefuls before.
Both companies are European, too: Winamp Group runs out of Brussels, Deezer out of Paris. For a brand that helped define the MP3 era, a European streaming comeback in 2027 is a fittingly strange twist. Longtime fans will just be glad it is trying.
