Winamp is building its own streaming subscription on Deezer's technology, launching H1 2027

Winamp still has more than 40 million people using its desktop player, and it is about to sell them a streaming subscription.

The company announced a partnership with Deezer on July 29, 2026 from Brussels and Paris. Deezer provides the white-label streaming technology and the catalogue. Winamp puts its own brand on top and sells the subscription itself. The new Winamp Player is scheduled for the first half of 2027.

White-label streaming means one company runs the licensing and delivery infrastructure while another company owns the customer. Deezer has done this before for hardware and telco partners. Winamp gets a catalogue without negotiating with every major label, and Deezer gets paid for the back end instead of fighting for the subscriber.

What the new Winamp Player is supposed to do differently

Winamp’s pitch is that the music player has not really changed in 25 years while streaming services around it did.

Winamp says the new player will combine premium streaming with your local music library, internet radio stations, podcasts, personal cloud collections and other audio sources, all in one customizable interface, with social features and its own ways to organize and discover music.

That is the old Winamp value proposition, the app that played whatever you threw at it, rebuilt with a licensed catalogue inside it.

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Winamp has always been about giving users the freedom to experience music their own way. Twenty-five years ago we changed the way people listened to digital music, and we believe the time has come to challenge the listening experience once again.

Thierry Ascarez, Chief Business Officer at Winamp Group, called the deal more than a technology agreement, describing it as “the coming together of two companies that share a passion for innovation in music”. Winamp also says the subscription model itself will work differently from today’s services, without saying how yet. Full product details are held back until closer to launch.

What a Winamp subscription means for independent artists

Nothing yet, and that is the honest answer for a product with no pricing, no launch date beyond H1 2027, and no announced royalty terms.

But the structure is worth watching for one reason. Every white-label service built on Deezer’s back end pays into the same royalty pool your music already sits in. A new subscription brand gives listeners another way in, without giving you anywhere new to pitch. Deezer is also the platform that has been most public about AI on its service, reporting that AI tracks passed half of daily uploads and building its own AI music detector.

If Winamp ships a player that pulls in local files, radio and streaming side by side, the interesting question is which of those gets counted, and who gets paid when a listener never leaves the app. Winamp has not published that answer yet.

One thing to keep straight on timing: this was announced in July, not this week. Digital Music News covered it on September 21, 2026, roughly 8 weeks after the press release went out, which is why it is circulating now. The launch window has not moved: H1 2027.