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Winamp to live on after buyout by Belgian business

Fans of Winamp were devastated last year when they learned that parent company AOL would be pulling the plug on the iconic music player in December. Now, those same fans might now want to brush up on their Flemish, to say thanks to the Belgian company that’s saved the 90s’ most popular MP3 player from becoming abandonware. (Spoiler alert: “thank you” in Flemish is simply “Dank u”. Sound familiar? Now you know.)

Belgian digital audio company Radionomy has struck a deal with AOL to salvage Winamp and its online broadcast component, Shoutcast. The transaction is rumoured to be worth between $5- and $10-million, and AOL will take a 12% stake in the European company as part of the deal. AOL originally paid $80-million to acquire Winamp developer Nullsoft in the 90s – so Radionomy is getting a real bargain, here. This also comes after rumours that Microsoft would be buying the player that kind of has Windows in its name,

What it plans to do with the software is fairly obvious, too. Radionomy already operates in the online radio space, and with Shoutcast in its hands it’ll become one of the largest online streaming providers in the world. That’s likely its biggest interest, but with the Winamp software boasting baked-in support for not only listening to Shoutcast stations but also broadcasting to a Shoutcast station, it’s a great sweetener.

It’s said that Radionomy will keep Winamp active, along with its plugins, skins, and language translations. The player is already used by millions and those who grew up with it will be familiar with the plethora of customisation options on offer. Needless to say, Winamp’s new owners have something good on their hands, and if they play their cards right they can not only keep offering Winamp (and making it better), but also grow the huge userbase that’s now even more interested since the player has been back in the news.

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