Music Sharing Service LimeWire Is Back—As an NFT Marketplace
The dormant peer-to-peer IP is being rebooted as a platform for music NFTs and other collectibles from musicians. Read the full article by Andrew Hayward Neither this page nor any other on cryptofal.com should be taken as financial advice. It is not.
The NFT space has been dominated by OpenSea as it is the preferred marketplace for those looking to buy and sell. This has not stopped competitors from popping up left and right trying to eat away at the market share. The newest to make an appearance will bring a bit of nostalgia back to many that were on the internet in the 2000s.
LimeWire was the original peer-to-peer music sharing service but has been dormant with the rise of Apple Music and Spotify over the last decade as well as legal challenges. Set to launch in May, LimeWire is revamping its business model and will be launching an NFT marketplace focused on music NFTs and music-related collectibles. They are also planning on the launch of their own token later in the year.
The LimeWire brand is under new ownership by Paul and Julian Zehetmayr and they have brought in an entirely new team with no association to the original LimeWire team. Making it an NFT platform brings back the original idea of P2P music sharing putting the power back in the artist’s hands rather than record labels.
“LimeWire is returning as a platform for artists, not against them,” the co-CEOs said. “On LimeWire, the majority of the revenue will go directly to the artist, and we will be working with creators to allow full flexibility, ownership, and control when it comes to their content.”
The plan is to start with music-related products then branch even further into the space. Over the past year, we have seen music NFTs make their way through platforms like Audius which, like LimeWire, will have a chance to shake up the music industry. Artists are already releasing their music as NFTs most notably NAS and Kings of Leon. This takes away the need for record labels which have notoriously screwed over their artists for their own gain in the past.