Unnamed sources have informed AOL-owned TechCrunch that the company is finalizing negotiations with an unnamed party that's interested in purchasing Winamp and Shoutcast. The news arrives after AOL announced last month that both services would close after December 20, which is today. As of this writing, both are still up and running.
Sources would not cough up the real identity of the buyer, but they are extremely "confident" that an agreement between the two will be reached. Sources also stated that the December 20 shutdown will not take place while negotiations are still on the table. However, the warning on the Winamp page still exists.
"Winamp.com and associated web services will no longer be available past December 20, 2013. Additionally, Winamp Media players will no longer be available for download. Please download the latest version before that date. See release notes for latest improvements to this last release. Thanks for supporting the Winamp community for over 15 years," reads the warning.
Just a day after the warning went up, there was talk that Microsoft was interested in saving the services, and the two media giants were working on a price. For AOL, selling both reportedly "makes sense" given that the media company is shuttering and selling off other music assets. The move is part of a "bigger strategic shift to focus resources as a web publisher."
Currently, there's a petition over on Change.org, and nearly 47,000 out of 50,000 Winamp fans have already signed. A final notice to AOL is also posted on the petition site, revealing that AOL has not responded to previous attempts for more information.
"We feel that after so many years you owe it to your customers to give more information than just one short paragraph on your website," the letter reads. "In anticipation we are hoping that a more substantial message will be announced by AOL soon."
