LimeWire new owners intend to “right the ship” with the NFT marketplace, promising to give music artists control over their work
Limewire, a prominent peer-to-peer file-sharing service from the early 2000s that ceased operations in 2010, is reentering the market under new ownership with a digital collectable marketplace. The platform unveiled its ambitions to build a non-fungible token marketplace focusing on the art and music industries in an official statement on Wednesday. The NFT marketplace is scheduled to start in May, followed by the introduction of an official NFT with a token incentive scheme later this year.
The contentious site was shut down in 2010 following a protracted legal fight with the Recording Industry Association of America on piracy charges. A federal judge determined that the site violated copyright on a “large scale.” LimeWire was one of the most popular peer-to-peer file-sharing networks during its heyday, allowing users to download music and other content for free. Subscription-based streaming services such as Spotify and Netflix gradually supplanted LimeWire, BitTorrent, and Napster.
LimeWire will offer NFTs associated with songs and artwork sold by artists and brands, as well as its own private utility tokens. The new portal will accept a variety of cryptocurrencies as payment, albeit all things will be offered in US dollar values. The debut is scheduled for May, with ten popular music acts reportedly already on board (they remain unnamed). This year, members of the management teams of well-known artists such as H.E.R. and Wu-Tang Clan will also join the startup’s board of directors as advisers.
LimeWire’s website is currently up, with a public waitlist available. According to the current plan, the marketplace will start in May and an LMWR Token sale will take place in Q4 of 2022. According to the company’s CEOs, the relaunch is focused on reestablishing order and establishing a virtual collectable marketplace for the music world.
