UPDATED: May 17, 2022
(CelebrityAccess) – Remember Napster and its “not as well-known” counterpart, LimeWire? It’s coming back, but it’s not the LimeWire we remember. The company had announced a relaunch come May as a digital collectibles marketplace for art and entertainment focusing on music. They’ve made good on that promise as they announce their first partnership with Universal Music Group (UMG), collaborating on making digital music collectibles accessible to a broader audience.
UMG artists, as well as many of its record labels – including Interscope Records, Republic Records, Def Jam Recordings, Capitol Records, Motown Records, Geffen, EMI, Virgin Music, and more – will be able to leverage the LimeWire marketplace to explore unique ways to engage with fans through digital music collectibles and Web3, and generate new revenue streams.
As part of this partnership, UMG will provide licenses to allow LimeWire to partner with UMG artists to launch music-based NFT projects utilizing the LimeWire marketplace.
“We see this partnership as a true demonstration of the pace at which the music industry is embracing Web3,” said Paul and Julian Zehetmayr, LimeWire Co-CEOs. “We’re thrilled to open up the LimeWire NFT ecosystem to Universal Music Group artists and fans and can’t wait to see the first creative projects being launched on the marketplace.”
Using LimeWire, artists signed to UMG can now offer audio recordings, audiovisual content, backstage footage, and any artwork and images as NFTs on the LimeWire marketplace and sell them directly to fans and collectors. Musicians can release bonus tracks and exclusive material, sell uncut or backstage content, and much more.
Original Story Published: March 9, 2022
(CelebrityAccess) – Remember Napster and its “not as well-known” counterpart, LimeWire? It’s coming back, but it’s not the LimeWire we remember. The company has announced a relaunch come May as a digital collectibles marketplace for art and entertainment focusing on music. The original LimeWire file-sharing platform ceased operations nearly a decade ago after legal action by numerous record labels.
Come May; it will be a marketplace for artists and fans alike to create, buy and trade digital collectibles without the technical crypto requirements of the current NFT environment. The company aims to onboard one million users within the first year through partnerships with major artists within the music industry.
Music fans will be able to buy and trade a variety of music-related items, such as limited editions, pre-release music, unreleased demos, graphical artwork, exclusive live versions, and digital merchandise and backstage content. There is no crypto wallet prerequisite, and users will be able to purchase collectibles directly via credit card and bank transfer in US dollars via the payment platform Wyre.
Tareef Michael, manager of the Wu-Tang Clan, said: “I am thrilled to join and support LimeWire as an advisor in a truly groundbreaking time for the music industry. The concept of NFTs on the blockchain is fundamentally changing the narrative around how ownership and royalties should work in music and brings back full control to the artists.”
According to the media announcement, the LimeWire marketplace will be released with “a line-up of big names in the music industry” and is open for small and medium-sized artists to join the platform.
