On Thursday, AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL) announced their plans to shutter Winamp, a once-popular media player for Windows and Android users. Now it seems that the company may have had a change of heart. There are now reports that AOL might just sell the software to Windows.
Winamp purchase confirmation not received from Microsoft
Techcrunch was the first to report this. We also have yet to receive confirmation from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) or AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL), the latter of which first acquired Winamp fourteen years ago from Nullsoft. This deal might also include Shoutcast internet radio, which was also purchased from Nullsoft.
Ingrid Lunden for TechCrunch further elaborated, “As an owner, AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL) has never given much of a strong direction to the products, at a time when other digital music companies have been building up audiences and evolving technologies (although, as we pointed out earlier this week when writing about Radio layoffs, the digital music business is tough). It has already shuttered and sold off other music assets as part of a bigger strategic shift to focus resources as a web publisher (it owns TechCrunch, Engadget, Huffington Post and a number of other bloggy properties), and as a rich-media advertising network operator across those and third-party sites, with an increasing focus on ad-tech to improve how those ads are delivered and measured.”
Microsoft struggling in digital music market
On a similar note, Microsoft has also struggled in the digital music market. The company just shuttered Zune Marketplace as their media players couldn’t hold a candle to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s line of iPods. Now the company is keeping their focus on Xbox Music which offers in-demand music much like Spotify. The real question is how would Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) use Winamp or Shoutcast? It’s possible that the radio service could be utilized to enhance Xbox Music, which would give it a boost in terms of competition. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched a Pandora-like radio service months ago which so far has been a success.
