WinPlay3

{{Infobox Software

| name = WinPlay3

| logo =

| screenshot = File:WinPlay3_screenshot.gif

| caption = WinPlay3

| developer = Fraunhofer IIS

| released = {{Start date and age|1995|9|9}}{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

| latest release version = 2.3 beta 5

| latest release date = {{Start date and age|1997|5|23}}{{cite web |url=http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm/download/mp3player/index.html |title=WinPlay3 / MPEG Layer-3 Player for Power Macintosh - Real-time MPEG Layer-3 Players |year=1999 |author=Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft |accessdate=2010-08-11 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19990424170707/http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm/download/mp3player/index.html |archivedate=1999-04-24}}

| programming language = C

| operating system = Windows 3.1/95/98/NT

| language = English (German)

| genre = Media player

| license = Trialware

| website = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/19980214220217/http://www.iis.fhg.de:80/departs/amm/layer3/winplay3/|http://www.iis.fhg.de:80/departs/amm/layer3/winplay3/}}

}}

WinPlay3 was the first real-time MP3 audio player for PCs running Windows,"1995: (...) In the same year, Fraunhofer provides a first PC based Layer 3 codec as shareware."—{{cite web |title=The mp3 history |url=http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/EN/bf/amm/mp3history/mp3history03.jsp |accessdate=2008-02-07 |publisher=Fraunhofer IIS}}{{cite web | publisher = The Sonic Spot | title = WinPlay3 | url=http://www.sonicspot.com/winplay/winplay.html | accessdate = 2008-02-07}}{{cite web |title=Using ISO/MPEG Audio to provide Low and High Quality audio services in real-time |first1=Jürgen |last1=Zeller |first2=Martin |last2=Sieler |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970704160721/http://www.iis.fhg.de:80/departs/amm/layer3/l3rt/index.html#winplay3 |archive-date=1997-07-04 |url-status=dead |url=http://www.iis.fhg.de:80/departs/amm/layer3/l3rt/index.html |publisher=Fraunhofer Gesellschaft |location=Erlangen Germany}} both 16-bit (Windows 3.1) and 32-bit (Windows 95). Prior to this, audio compressed with MP3 had to be decompressed prior to listening. It was released by Fraunhofer IIS ("Institute for Integrated Circuits"),"All title and copyrights in and to the IIS WinPlay3 v2.3b5 software product are owned by: Fraunhofer Institut Integrierte Schaltungen, Am Weichselgarten 3, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany". IIS WinPlay3 v2.3b5 software product license agreement, a document displayed in the WinPlay3 installer window. creators of the MP3 format, on September 9, 1995.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rarewares.org/rrw/winplay3.php|title = ReallyRareWares - FHG IIS WinPlay3}} The latest version was released on May 23, 1997. In 2000, the program was discontinued and all information and downloads were removed from the Fraunhofer IIS website.

The program became popular thanks to the warez scene.{{Cite web|title=1996_DACMP3.nfo|url=https://scenerules.org/t.html?id=1996_DACMP3.nfo|access-date=2021-11-18|website=scenerules.org}} The first warez group to bring WinPlay3 to attention of a wider audience was Compress Da Audio.{{cite web |last1=Maldonado |first1=Adrián |title=The archaeology of the mp3: review of How Music Got Free by Stephen Witt |url=https://almostarchaeology.com/post/145882405468/mp3archaeology |website=Almost Archaeology |publisher=Tumblr |access-date=1 September 2024}} They released MP3 rips of CDs, with copies of WinPlay3 included, on several FTP-based warez sites. Rabid Neurosis emerged shortly afterwards, after which the scene exploded.{{cite web |author1=NetFraCk |title=A Brief Summary of the MP3 Scene |url=http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/3/brief-summary-mp3-scene/ |website=MP3 Scene .info |access-date=1 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621063226/http://www.mp3scene.info/articles/3/brief-summary-mp3-scene/ |archive-date=21 June 2012 |date=13 April 2012}}

Until the release of Winamp in 1997, WinPlay3 was the sole option for playing MP3-compressed music on Microsoft Windows. Unlike modern audio programs, such as Winamp or iTunes, it lacked advanced features such as equalizers, or playlists as a menu option, and concentrated mostly on playback. A playlist can be created by hand, however, in a simple text file listing the system path to each MP3 and saving the file with an M3U extension. The m3u playlist support made it the first widely available media player application that offered a well-integrated streaming experience for the web user. Clicking a link on a webpage launched WinPlay3, which would start a stream of the mp3 listed in the m3u file.{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Dom|title=Content Delivery Networks: Fundamentals, Design, and Evolution|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRArDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR4|date=2017-06-20|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-1-119-24988-7|doi=10.1002/9781119249924|pages=138–139|chapter=Chapter 4: Publishing}}