Microsoft Wants to Buy and Save Winamp - Report [Updated]

[Matsuda]

AOL recently announced that it would discontinue Winamp on December 20, 2013, but it turns out that the media player could get a chance to live on.

In a pretty unexpected twist of the story, Microsoft is reportedly interested in acquiring AOL’s media player and the Shoutcast service, even though no confirmation from Redmond has until now been released.

TechCrunch is reporting via unnamed sources that Microsoft and AOL are already talking of a potential deal that could be announced by December 20, the date when Winamp is set to go dark.

While it’s hard to tell what Microsoft would actually do with Winamp, this could really be the only way to see the media player living on beyond the AOL era, as millions of users across the world are still running it on either Windows or Android right now.

We’ve asked for a confirmation from Microsoft on this, so we’re going to update the article when and if we get an answer.

The same source is adding that AOL is gearing up to announce the retirement of the Shoutcast media streaming service next week, so a potential Microsoft deal could include not only Winamp, but also the adjacent products.

Of course, it’s hard to imagine that Microsoft would actually do something really good with Winamp, especially because the company already invests a fortune to make Xbox Music successful. Xbox Music is already available on several platforms, including Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Phone, iOS, and Xbox, while Winamp is only offered to Windows and Android users.

At the same time, Microsoft already has some bad memories with music services, as the company developed and then killed Zune in an unfortunate story that’s probably still causing nightmares to Steve Ballmer.

On the other hand, seeing Winamp survive would indeed be great news for users across the world, as the media player is reportedly being used by millions of consumers on desktop computers.


Update: Microsoft Has “Nothing to Share” on Winamp Acquisition

A Microsoft spokesperson told us that the company has nothing to share on this, which is not at all surprising given the fact that the tech giant usually remains tight-lipped on future acquisitions.

On the other hand, this could be a sign that Microsoft is actually interested in taking over Winamp. History proved us that whenever reports of a new Microsoft acquisition were false, the company was quick to deny speculation.

What's more, every time there was some truth behind the reports, Microsoft refused to comment, obviously in an attempt to keep everything secret until it reaches an agreement with the other party.

This time, nobody can tell for sure whether Winamp will be bought or not, but let’s just hope that in one way or another, the media player will live on.





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Edited November 23, 2013 by Matsuda

[Sonar]

let it die! keep your hands busy on windows 9 ! - don't want no other junk like winamp bundled with it!

[VileTouch]

i would love to see winamp as the successor of windows media player

[rach]

good, Microsoft is going to buy everything you love.

[VileTouch]

good, Microsoft is going to buy everything you love.

NOOooo! not Georgia Jones! :fear:

[DKT27]

Microsoft will probably buy it and release it as an app on all the Windows platform.

i would love to see winamp as the successor of windows media player

That would probably be great.

[ARMOUR]

Microsoft Wants to Buy and Save Winamp - Report

read the full news in softpedia

[janedoe]

good, Microsoft is going to buy everything you love.

It's been horribly mismanaged and killed by AOL anyway, so MS can't do any worse. Plus while I'd love to see it open-sourced, if this report is true then obviously AOL will jump at a chance of getting money for something it was going to toss into the trash anyway.

Microsoft will probably buy it and release it as an app on all the Windows platform.

i would love to see winamp as the successor of windows media player

That would probably be great.

Winamp can play FLAC and (I think) MKV too. If they release it for Windows RT I'd jump with joy.

[ben01]

When AOL bought Winamp, they stopped its developpment. But it was still a decent audio player

If MS buys Winamp, they will turn it into a useless bloatware. <_<

[janedoe]

Actually a huge amount of bloat was added to Winamp as well, which is one of the reasons many people stopped using it. The latest beta had some sort of stupid cloud feature for Pete's sake, in an audio player! If MS adds even more bloat then they should of course be criticized, but how about witholding judgment till it actually happens instead of letting your biases come in the way of a balanced opinion? Anyway, I don't see your favorite company queueing up to save Winamp from oblivion, plus nothing in the world stops you from sticking to the current version if you want. Just think that the player died as originally scheduled by AOL, and ignore all future releases if any.

BTW, any purchase (by anyone, not just MS) would be great for people who paid good money of late for Winamp Pro, especially on Android.

[ben01]

Actually a huge amount of bloat was added to Winamp as well, which is one of the reasons many people stopped using it.

Not so much bloat if you install Winamp LITE ;)

[Purple Trail]

let it die! keep your hands busy on windows 9 ! - don't want no other junk like winamp bundled with it!

You seem to get pretty worked up every time you hear about Winamp.

This seems to be Sonar's trigger word, so if you ever want to summon him, just say the magic word "Winamp" and he will pop up.

Nobody is forcing you to use it, even if it's bundled, same as Windows Media Player.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Purple Trail

[Reefa]

Actually a huge amount of bloat was added to Winamp as well, which is one of the reasons many people stopped using it.

Not so much bloat if you install Winamp LITE ;)

Yes me to for a long time now iv'e used Winamp lite portable ;)

[janedoe]

I never bothered with Lite because the Flac plugin isn't included. Instead I used to perform a custom install of Full and uncheck/delete stuff I didn't care about. Plus I liked some of the Modern skins and vis plugins, which of course aren't included or don't work with Lite.

[tezza]

Microsoft in Talks to Buy Deezer Music Streaming Service

This is clearly the shopping season for the Redmond-based tech giant Microsoft, as the company is said to be involved in takeover talks for multiple projects, including Winamp and Deezer.

The latter could help Microsoft expand Xbox Music not only across the United States, but also in several other countries, as Deezer is already offered to users in 180 nations on the globe.

Digital Music News is reporting that Microsoft and Deezer are currently discussing a potential deal, and even though talks have started only recently, Redmond is said to be really interested in the music service.

Deezer, which currently has 5 million users worldwide, is already available on multiple platforms, including Microsoft’s very own Windows 8.1, Android and iOS.

As usual, Microsoft hasn’t issued a statement on this, so take everything with a pinch of salt until either Deezer or the software giant says something official.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-in-Talks-to-Buy-Deezer-Music-Streaming-Service-Report-402917.shtml

Edited November 22, 2013 by tezza

[demoneye]

let it die! keep your hands busy on windows 9 ! - don't want no other junk like winamp bundled with it!

totally agree with you , from a simple player they add to it so many shity things make it bloated as a fat cow .

i use FOOBAR and it play them all , no bullshit , not bloated with useless online crap B)

[Rivenson]

NOOooo! not Georgia Jones! :fear:

LOL..... :P

[LeetPirate]

Winamp... sucking since 2001.

Aimp is much better. :P

[DKT27]

Actually a huge amount of bloat was added to Winamp as well, which is one of the reasons many people stopped using it. The latest beta had some sort of stupid cloud feature for Pete's sake, in an audio player! If MS adds even more bloat then they should of course be criticized, but how about witholding judgment till it actually happens instead of letting your biases come in the way of a balanced opinion? Anyway, I don't see your favorite company queueing up to save Winamp from oblivion, plus nothing in the world stops you from sticking to the current version if you want. Just think that the player died as originally scheduled by AOL, and ignore all future releases if any.

BTW, any purchase (by anyone, not just MS) would be great for people who paid good money of late for Winamp Pro, especially on Android.

Cloud will be a plus point for Microsoft though. Cloud syncing music player connected to cloud syncing music service is what Microsoft would be looking for.

[LeeSmithG]

Good for M$

I used it last century.

It was at 3.xx.xx I think.

It was totally free at the time.

I preferred picaview as it was quicker for me.

Out of nostalgia I have installed and registered win amp and might not use it or might use it.

I have Netscape Navigator still installed (v9.0.0.6) as a nostalgia thing.

Don't use it as most pages look odd in it.

But, was good memories before IE.

[ShEsHy]

If they do get it, I just hope they won't turn it into that Win 8 (SP1) only app thingy.

[Kanone]

The interface is so damn ugly and outdated on the PC _and_ the Android version - it doesn't match anything, anywhere.

[janedoe]

Cloud will be a plus point for Microsoft though. Cloud syncing music player connected to cloud syncing music service is what Microsoft would be looking for.

Perhaps, if Winamp's aborted cloud feature gels with what they plan to add to XBox Music. However the more I look at this the more I think that if at all the reports are true then in combination with Deezer their main target might be Shoutcast, as XBox Music needs its capabilities boosted in that regard desperately (as well as access to more countries worldwide). XBox Music + Deezer + Shoutcast + Nokia MixRadio (as Nokia Music is now known) would be a strong competitor in the online streaming category IMO.

[vijay6672]

go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=19911

[chilly]

I have used Winamp off and on for years. Would like to see it continue and if MS does aquire it they can't do it anymore damage than AOL did as I see it. I use like 3 or 4 different audio programs for various reasons and Winamp for it visuals and FLAC capabilities. Anyway Happy Holidays to you all and smile it does keep them guessing!