Winamp, the legendary music player launched in 1997, is selling its original skin as an NFT. This iconic look is the same with which we met the program when it made its debut on Windows during that year. According to The Verge, Winamp will put his skin up for auction from May 16 to 22; and you can access it from the OpenSea platform.
The auction of the original Winamp skin, will be followed by a sale of 1997 original NFTs based on 20 different works of art, and which in turn will be a derivative of the original look of the music program .
The company has confirmed that the funds raised will go to the Winamp Foundation, whose purpose is to donate the profits to charity projects. The first of them, as announced, will be the Belgian Music Fund, a non-profit association “that supports music schools and socio-artistic projects in conflict zones and developing countries, as well as in Europe”, they mention on their website.
This movement, as The Verge points out, comes as an intersection between an advertising movement, and one for fundraising.
Winamp will be stocking up on artistic NFTs through a collection of works in which numerous artists can participate. In it, creators will have the opportunity to submit their artistic version of Winamp starting today; The call closes on April 15, at which time the company will select the winners. These will receive 20% of the amount generated with the sale of their NFT images during the auction.
Likewise, the artists will receive a 10% in royalties generated by sales that may be carried out later. Of course, the price here will be set by the seller of the Winamp NFT art, so if you're lucky, you could end up getting a lot of money from future sales. Each work, by the way, will be sold for 0.08 Ethereum, which is currently about $210.
Buyers will get a link
Those who manage to get hold of the Winamp NFT will be able to access it using a link that will redirect to the image of the original skin, or one of its derivatives. Buyers will be able to “copy, reproduce and display” the art, but it does not mean that they will own copyright to it. In the latter case, it is Winamp itself who will own the rights, and as part of the participation process, the artists will have to assign them to the company.
Winamp is not what we remember from the 90s. The company, which was acquired by AOL in 1998, was sold by the latter to Radionomy during 2014. This was after AOL collapsed. However, Radionomy has been dedicating efforts for the return of Winamp, and they plan to give it the relaunch it deserves this year as a mobile application and much more. However, those who want to enjoy the original program will be able to access it thanks to updates from the Winamp community itself.
Recently, Winamp returned to the world through the front door. The player underwent a great image renovation; the first in many years. In fact, rumors about it had been heard since 2018, but at the end of 2021 this became a reality. They changed their logo, but it wasn't the only thing.
At the time, the company commented that it would be a unique space for music creators. “For artists and audio creators, our goal is to give you control over your content. We'll help you connect closely with your fans and earn a fairer income doing what you love.”