Winamp website updated, seeks beta testers for new version

Looks like https://www.winamp.com/ got an update and is now looking for beta testers for the next major version of its media player.

Wait, in 2021? I didn't go to sleep and wake up in 2003?

I've been using Winamp forever, midis, mp3s, flacs, it doesn't matter what format. I'll have to check this out.

Glad to see they've kept the llama.

Interesting. 

nice. winamp has always been my favorite mp3 player - also the first one I've ever used

On 11/19/2021 at 3:37 PM, HavoX said:

Glad to see they've kept the llama.

Still going strong despite getting it's butt whooped for years!

Haha nice, I have been using the latest last version before hibernation all this time.

Who even owns Winamp anymore? This sounds like they're trying to do another Spotify/iTunes/Bandcamp/whatever, thinking they can capitalize on people's nostalgia by using the name of the player everyone used in the late 90s-early 00s, but I feel like that ship has already sailed. The flashy, bloated. and detail-light HTML5 website seems antithetical to the ethos of folks still using Winamp in 2021.

Is winamp even necessary anymore. I could've sworn that windows media player has a playlist option.

Jesus christ that website. Is it mining crypto or something?

I’m not clear what they’re purporting to offer that other music streaming services don’t already purport to offer. Except now you can use a name (if not aesthetic or interface or design principle) that hearkens to the era of Napster and Netscape Navigator and whatnot. Even the name sounds irreconcilably 20 years old, no matter how many corporate-minimalist logo designs and all-lowercase typesettings you tape over it

Maybe the logo was changed to avoid connotations to Nazi Nullsoft as depicted in the Japanese version of Bionic Commando

8 hours ago, Dusty_Rhodes said:

Wait, in 2021? I didn't go to sleep and wake up in 2003?

I've been using Winamp forever, midis, mp3s, flacs, it doesn't matter what format. I'll have to check this out.

Actually they are several Winamp projects. The one mentioned above is the official continuation of the original Winamp (which stopped at version 5.666 in 2013). That official Winamp has been revived in 2018. 

There's also WACUP - the unoffical "WinAmp Community Update Project" - which has been going for a few years. A great project I might add^^: 

WACUP (WinAmp Community Update Project): https://getwacup.com/ 

A preview of WACUP: https://www.ghacks.net/2021/02/23/new-winamp-community-update-project-wacup-preview-released/ 

Winamp is great for those who want an accessible and highly customizable music player, now if you want more options you'll probably go for Foobar2000 or AIMP.  

6 hours ago, Ragu said:

Who even owns Winamp anymore? This sounds like they're trying to do another Spotify/iTunes/Bandcamp/whatever, thinking they can capitalize on people's nostalgia by using the name of the player everyone used in the late 90s-early 00s, but I feel like that ship has already sailed. The flashy, bloated. and detail-light HTML5 website seems antithetical to the ethos of folks still using Winamp in 2021.

Yeah, I made my original reply before seeing the website. That is probably not what Winamp users want. At least I don't. I already have to browser version of Spotify and YouTube for music streaming. I just want Winamp for three things: midi playback, mp3 playback, and flat playback.

Looks like it's gonna be a streaming service. I wonder if there's a place for another one of these, but we'll see. If they really have some killer feature then it just might work.

Well, I don't know. Competition is one thing, but Winamp? As a streaming service?

Anyway, after development for Winamp supposedly "died," I ditched it for foobar2k. It worked out okay, but I figured I'd switch to Qmmp in the future once I figure out how it works.

What? Winamp still exists?

21 minutes ago, leodoom85 said:

What? Winamp still exists?

I mean, I still use it:

That being said, I'm still using a version and skin that I downloaded in the mid 2000's. It's just always worked for me, and I put it in my music folder. Which I back up and transfer when I need to switch computers. I mean, they really kind of hit the nail on the head early on. It's kind of hard to branch out after that point. I wish them the best of luck with whatever their doing, it's always been a good music player. I just don't personally like streaming services. 

We have enough streaming/music/podcast services ....