From music player to fan empowerment: Winamp launches new player to help artists sell directly to fans

Brussels-based Winamp, a music media player for Microsoft Windows, announced on Thursday, April 13, the launch of a new player with a range of functionalities aimed at unlocking the relationship between artists and fans.

Winamp has been a household name in the music industry since its launch in 1997. With customisable skins and an extensive plugin library, it became massively popular with a community of 83M users globally.

For the first time, Winamp is available as a mobile-responsive web player, and – set to be released in Q3 – mobile apps (iOS and Android) based on the legacy desktop version. 

“A new super-aggregator forms part of the player that welcomes any audio services, building on Winamp’s DNA of openness and empowerment of listeners. It can now offer the best of everything for fans, be it podcasts, radio stations, and – coming soon – the ability to play local files and connect to streaming services,” reads the company’s press release. 

Winamp: The Fanzone

The platform features “the Fanzone,” which creators can access to become better merchants and sell their products, creating tiered subscription plans. 

The Fanzone enables fans to directly support their favourite artists while being rewarded with access to exclusive content. 

Artists access the Fanzone via Winamp for Creators, which was originally launched on 15 March when creators were offered the opportunity to sign up to populate the Fanzone with content. 

Winamp for Creators provides creators with ways to build new revenue streams to supplement their income from DSPs, a single place to manage their Fanzone subscriptions, and soon other services, such as distribution and copyright management (both Q2), and licensing and creating/selling NFTs out of their content (both Q3).

Winamp aims to grow to 250 million users and to have 1 million artists on the Winamp Fanzone accessible through the new player, all generating revenue through the Fanzone. 

Alexandre Saboundjian, CEO of Llama Group, says, “Winamp has a legacy of 30 years of music empowerment and irreverence. That challenger spirit is needed today more than ever. Creators find it increasingly hard to gain value from streaming services, making it harder for them to sustain their art and grow their careers. In this environment, artists have to take their future into their own hands – they need to supplement their income by becoming their own merchants.

He continues, “With the new Winamp player, our aim is to empower creators to make more money, at a time when they really need it. Winamp’s mission is to change the mindset of artists – from one where they feel like victims of poor revenues from the DSPs, to one of empowerment about what they can achieve by themselves.

“Meanwhile, a new generation of superfans are looking for new ways to spend money on, and engage with, their favourite artists. Winamp’s Fanzone offers them an opportunity to do just that,” he concludes.