Winamp, the once-dominant MP3 player of the early 2000s, has announced a partnership with streaming service Deezer as part of a fresh attempt to revive the brand. Deezer will provide the white-label technology and licensed music catalogue behind Winamp's new premium subscription service, while Winamp retains its own branding and interface. The move underpins a broader relaunch built around a next-generation Winamp Player, due in the first half of 2027, and comes amid wider renewed interest in nostalgic technology such as MP3 players and iPods.

The new player is pitched as combining premium streaming with local music libraries, internet radio, podcasts and personal cloud collections in one app, with an emphasis on customisation and social features. Winamp says the offering will differ fundamentally from existing platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music, though it faces a crowded market; it points to its free desktop player's 40 million active users as a base to build on. This marks one of several reinventions for Winamp, following earlier forays into NFT integration and cross-platform mobile plans, and a recent pivot towards creator-focused tools.