Vivendi Takes Over Radionomy, Winamp Relaunch Now Possible (windowsreport.com)

SmartAboutThings writes: Winamp could once again be brought back to life after Vivendi Group took over the majority stake in Radionomy, the previous owner of the app who purchased it from AOL in early 2014. AOL originally planned to discontinue both Winamp and Shoutcast, but instead the company decided to sell the software to Belgian online radio service, Radionomy. The new owners initially promised that they'll keep Winamp alive, but no updates have been released since the takeover, which made most people think that Winamp era has ended for good. Vivendi Group, which owns or is involved in famous companies such as Dailymotion, Ubisoft, and Deezer, could help relaunch Winamp, although the press release announcing the acquisition offers no suggestion in this regard. The company, however, does mention Winamp and Shoutcast as two of the most important assets that will join its portfolio following the takeover.

Comments

Shoutcast is more important.

[astro]

I strongly believe that Shoutcast is the more important of the two applications here, and likely the reason for the acquisition. There are approximately a zillion interchangeable client players / music library managers, but Shoutcast and other compatible programs like icecast are dominant in the indie-scale internet radio space. There are tons of clients (one open source example - Butt) that can broadcast using the original Soundcast system. I liked Winamp long back in the day, but I do think Shoutcast is the more important news here.

I have experience: I co-founded http://houseofsound.org - and they are still using Icecast to broadcast their streams.

Re:So What?

[Tx]

I guess it does demonstrate the enduring power of a marque though. Sure, WinAmp hasn't been relevant for ages, but people still remember it. I remember even making a skin for the music player I used on my PocketPC PDA (gsplayer I think it was) to make it look like WinAmp, mustv'e had way too much time on my hands.

Sure, it's hard to see how WinAmp could be brought back to prominence. Certainly not in the same form as it was; if you want that, just download the old versions. But it's not impossible; I can't say I'm 100% happy with the music players I use, the online radio apps I use, or the streaming services on the market. So there's room for someone to do better, and if it happened to have the WinAmp name attached it wouldn't hurt.