The Lime Is Back

In the heydey of the aughts, it was extremely common to find music downloading software running on every college kid's computer. Music piracy was rampant. After the downfall of Napster, one service became king: LimeWire. It was sued into oblivion by the RIAA in 2010. Now, it returns but in the most 2022 way possible: an NFT marketplace. Meera Navlakha at Mashable has more.

The defunct platform is getting a crypto makeover, thanks to a pair of entrepreneurs in Austria who have just bought the rights to LimeWire. Paul and Julian Zehetmayr will be relaunching under a new company, LimeWire GmbH, with no affiliation to LimeWire's previous team. According to Bloomberg, the brothers are hoping the "iconic name" of the platform will evoke nostalgia (the unmistakably millenial/Gen-Z emotion).

"LimeWire will not be an alternative to streaming platforms, but rather an additional channel for artists to sell exclusive music and art directly to collectors and to engage with their most loyal community of fans," Julian says, highlighting their aim "to give artists full flexibility and control when it comes to their content."

Mashable

I find there are so many brands that return from the dead but as a shell of what they once were. Kodak, Polaroid, Palm, and more were dead but are basically modern companies who buy the name and hope to capitalize on that recognition. While LimeWire was far from a success in the traditional sense, it does hit in a way where people who were at a certain age to use it will likely be at an age to have an interest in NFTs and crypto. Now, while NFTs seem to be mostly scams and get-rich-quick schemes, I still find it interesting that so many companies are working to get in on this. There is money to be had. We just haven't seen it being made by anything that doesn't seem shady.