[ae101]

Winamp shuts down after 15 years, one more gem of the 90's fades away

Though the kids of today might not even recognise the name, the popular media player Winamp will always be remembered as the go-to media player of the 90's. AOL officially announced Winamp's shut down on Wednesday, which should happen by next month. Though it's popularity waned over the course of the late 90's and early 2000's, it was at one point the essential media player for listening to local music, MP-3 audio files, or radio streams.

In 2002, Winamp's original creator, Nullsoft was acquired by AOL for a stock price of a little north of $80 million, where it has been in development until now.

Over the years to change with the times, Mac and Android versions were released, but these versions couldn't compete with the already existing Windows Media Player fan base.

As of now, no direct reason has been released for Winamp's shutdown after 15 years, but given its decline in popularity and the rise in popularity of iTunes and Windows Media Player, it isn't that hard to guess why they're closing shop.

There is still a small window left for those who want to relive old times with Winamp. The official site will close down on December 21.

Justin Frankel, the producer closely associated with Winamp took to Twitter to assure the fans that Mike, the llama, who was basically the mascot of the media player, will get through these hard times.

Winamp shuts down after 15 years, one more gem of the 90's fades away - Sci/Tech - DNA

man im gonna miss this for sure, i remember all the different skins i can download for the player for free