Remember 1997? When the internet was still figuring itself out, when MP3s felt like the future, and when a scrappy little media player called WinAmp burst onto the scene?
Well, in the era of cloud streaming, WinAmp isn’t just alive and kicking, but it’s available on more devices—perfect for turning an Android phone into the ultimate minimalist music player.
The MP3 king that never really died
How WinAmp survived obsolescence and kept its cult alive
Back in April 1997, two University of Utah students named Justin Frankel and Dmitry Boldyrev did something remarkable. They created a Windows audio player so lightweight and efficient that it could run on practically any machine. The MP3 format was just taking off, and WinAmp became the perfect companion for the digital music revolution.
It had a minimalist interface, lightning-fast performance, and some absolutely captivating visualizations that made it the player of choice through the 90s and 2000s. You could customize everything with skins, create playlists to your heart’s content, and feel like you were genuinely connected to your music. The whole experience felt smooth, and it worked significantly better than the built-in Windows media player.
Even as music streaming apps like Spotify changed how we consume music from downloading to streaming, WinAmp users have refused to let go. According to a 2023 press release, the app still had 80 million users; that’s real, active usage.
After languishing in relative obscurity for years, with the last major desktop update dropping in 2013, WinAmp seemed like a relic of a bygone era. The company Radionomy, which acquired WinAmp back in 2014, kept the classic version alive, but innovation stalled.
WinAmp returned in 2024 with dedicated Android and iOS apps in an ambitious relaunch. The new apps preserved everything people love about WinAmp while adapting it for modern consumption. You can play all your locally stored music files, including MP3, FLAC, AAC, WAV, and more. It also integrates with cloud storage, allowing you to connect to Google Drive on Android and iCloud on iOS, and have your entire music library accessible from anywhere.
The apps also include the customization features that made WinAmp famous in the first place. You can create custom skins to make the player look exactly how you want it to. There’s support for radio stations and podcasts, a 10-band equalizer to shape your sound, gapless playback, and ReplayGain support.
WinAmp isn’t just nostalgia anymore
There’s a new way to support your favorite musicians
WinAmp isn’t just trying to recapture the past. It’s trying to solve a problem that other streaming services have created. Sure, the top artists on Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube Music, or other streaming services, can make a living, but what about everyone else? Especially independent musicians and niche artists who don’t have millions of listeners across streaming apps?
The answer is Fanzone. It’s a Patreon-like service built directly into the WinAmp mobile apps that lets artists create exclusive membership tiers, offer early access to releases, sell digital collectibles, and accept tips from fans.
Fans can discover new artists, and with just a few taps, they can subscribe to that artist’s Fanzone and unlock exclusive content. All without ever leaving their music player. This provides an alternate income source for smaller artists and a direct revenue stream that bypasses the streaming gatekeepers entirely.
The economics are transparent, too. WinAmp takes a 15% cut from direct fan subscriptions after the first year, in addition to an annual $55 artist fee. It’s more than Patreon’s 8% cut, but it comes with a full suite of music management tools, distribution to all major streaming platforms, copyright management, licensing tools, and even YouTube Content ID protection.
Why WinAmp still makes sense in 2025
Modern features, nostalgia, and a surprisingly capable audio engine
WinAmp might be a great app, but it can still only play local music tracks stored on your device. So why would you still want to use it when far more convenient music streaming options are still around?
There are quite a few reasons why. First up, if you’re tired of renting your music, going local and using WinAmp is a great way to stop paying for music. Store it locally, back it up, move it wherever you want. No corporation can yank your favorite album because of a licensing dispute.
Streaming audio quality is also mediocre at best. Even if you can get lossless audio, it’s pointless without certain accessories. With WinAmp, you can play FLAC lossless files straight from your phone, preserving every detail the artist intended. There’s also a 10-band equalizer that lets you tune your sound instead of listening to whatever compressed audio your streaming service hands you.
Discovery algorithms can also be exhausting. Spotify’s recommendation engine is a black box that keeps you in a loop of similar-sounding artists, and YouTube Music is no better. WinAmp puts you back in control. You can browse your library by folder, by album, or however you organized it. You not only end up rediscovering music you forgot you owned, but you listen more intentionally instead of having an algorithm spoonfeed you.
Unlike other streaming apps, WinAmp isn’t trying to be everything. It doesn’t want to be your podcast app, your audiobook app, your social network, and your concert ticket seller all in one. It just wants to play your music the best way possible, which makes it stand out in a way no music player does.
Last but not least, by using WinAmp, you ensure artists get paid fairly. When you subscribe to an artist’s Fanzone, that money goes directly to them—not split a thousand ways through streaming royalties. You’re not just a data point in a streaming app’s algorithm; you’re a direct supporter of the creators you listen to.
Should you switch back to WinAmp?
Using WinAmp still has benefits today
If you’re someone who owns a library of music files you care about, want lossless audio quality without paying premium streaming prices, are tired of subscription fees and algorithmic control, and want to support artists directly, then WinAmp is absolutely worth your time.
WinAmp isn’t positioning itself as a Spotify killer. It just wants to revive the direct connection between fans and artists.
This was the moment I knew it was time to buy CDs again — and drop Spotify
I hit play on an artist I loved, and Spotify gave me everything except their music.
It’s not perfect, and you’ll run into the occasional stutter when scrolling lists or when artists or albums don’t appear properly. The user interface can also seem a little cluttered, especially if you’re used to minimal streaming apps. But the core experience—playing your music with excellent sound quality—works flawlessly.
But if you love Spotify’s discovery playlists, can’t be bothered with managing files, and don’t mind the monthly fee, perhaps keeping both options is the better way. You can use your streaming app of choice to find new music, buy the albums you love, and play them in WinAmp. That’s the best of both worlds.
So yeah, WinAmp may not be the most popular music app in the world, but it’s certainly not dead. If you’re ready to take back control of your music library while directly supporting the artists who create it, it’s time to rediscover what made WinAmp legendary in the first place.
