Apps and Software By Ryan Whitwam Nov. 20, 2013 3:34 pm
There was a time when Winamp was the king of PC music players, but nothing can stop the march of progress. As iTunes and then online music streaming services became more common, Winamp became less relevant. Now the Winamp site includes a notice that the webpage, services, and software will be going away on December 20th.
The shutdown is going to be complete — not even the old versions of Winamp will be made available for download. Users are encouraged to grab the most recent builds before the shutdown happens. Winamp was acquired by AOL over a decade ago, but the parent company has declined to comment further on the shutdown.
Former Winamp employees claim that the player software, which included a paid pro license, was consistently bringing in about $6 million annually for AOL. When Winamp was bought out, it was in a good position to shape the future of digital music, but AOL failed to see the writing on the wall until it was too late. Winamp continued to be geared toward playing local files, and the Shoutcast radio streaming always seemed like an afterthought. Apple made itself the de facto source for digital media, and Winamp faded into the background.
Even now, after years of being largely irrelevant in the digital media space, Winamp has millions of users around the world. The company released an Android version back in 2010, and a Mac edition in 2011. These software packages will be going away with the standard Windows version on December 20th. Now who will handle all the llama whippin’? Apple? Not likely.
Now read:*Spotify sued because users can create playlists that copy compilation albums
More...
The shutdown is going to be complete — not even the old versions of Winamp will be made available for download. Users are encouraged to grab the most recent builds before the shutdown happens. Winamp was acquired by AOL over a decade ago, but the parent company has declined to comment further on the shutdown.
Former Winamp employees claim that the player software, which included a paid pro license, was consistently bringing in about $6 million annually for AOL. When Winamp was bought out, it was in a good position to shape the future of digital music, but AOL failed to see the writing on the wall until it was too late. Winamp continued to be geared toward playing local files, and the Shoutcast radio streaming always seemed like an afterthought. Apple made itself the de facto source for digital media, and Winamp faded into the background.
Even now, after years of being largely irrelevant in the digital media space, Winamp has millions of users around the world. The company released an Android version back in 2010, and a Mac edition in 2011. These software packages will be going away with the standard Windows version on December 20th. Now who will handle all the llama whippin’? Apple? Not likely.
Now read:*Spotify sued because users can create playlists that copy compilation albums
More...
