The partnership, formalised on July 1, will see Deezer supply the white‑label streaming infrastructure and licensed music catalog, while Winamp retains ownership of the product’s core code, branding and subscriber relationship. The revamped player will bundle a premium subscription with existing features such as local file playback, internet radio, podcasts and cloud‑stored music libraries.
Winamp says the new service will sit alongside its legacy desktop application rather than replace it, noting that the original still attracts more than 40 million active users worldwide. The Deezer‑powered subscription will be added after the launch, giving existing users a path to upgrade.
Deezer disclosed a drop in new subscriptions from partner deals in its first‑half‑2026 results, falling to 3.1 million – about 800,000 fewer than a year earlier – and a 7.6 % decline in partnership revenue to €70.7 million after a bundling agreement with Mercado Libre ended. In April, the company told investors that rebuilding its white‑label business, including recent deals with Telenor and French energy group EDF, is a strategic priority, making the Winamp deal a key part of that effort.
The revival follows a series of stalled attempts to modernise Winamp. In 2018 the then‑CEO Alexandre Saboundjian promised a new version for 2019, a plan that never materialised. A refreshed desktop client appeared in 2022, and the classic player’s source code was briefly published on GitHub in September 2024 before being removed after licensing controversies. By bundling Deezer’s streaming stack, the 2027 launch sidesteps the integration challenges that hampered earlier efforts.
Pricing, supported platforms and exact launch timing have not been disclosed. The press release promises a highly customisable interface, social features and new tools for music discovery and organisation, describing the subscription model as “fundamentally different” from current streaming services. If the Deezer partnership succeeds, it could mark a significant rebound for Winamp, which AOL had slated for shutdown in 2013 before selling it to Radionomy.