In the Internet age, nothing is gone forever, and everything can be resurrected time and again as an easy way to sell products. Sadly, whatever residual affection our parents’ generation had for brands like Polaroid and Atari has been strip-mined to sell, well, whatever their new owners choose. Consequently, it’s time for a newer, fresher name to return from the dust and remind everyone over the age of 34 that our childhoods are now something that people can feel nostalgia towards. Oh, and apropos of nothing, LimeWire is coming back as an NFT marketplace.
In May, LimeWire is relaunching as a “mainstream-ready, digital collectibles marketplace for art and entertainment, initially focusing on music.” Its backers believe that it will be a place for artists and fans to create and sell digital trinkets without the “technical hurdles of the current NFT landscape.” It is hoping to partner with a raft of high-profile musicians in the hope of spreading word about LimeWire’s resurrection in the hope of getting a million willing buyers signed up before the first year is done.
The phrase of the day is ensuring that “NFT newbies” are well catered-for, offering easy signup, pricing in US dollars and a lack of any crypto-based gatekeeping. Users will be able to buy straight from their credit cards (or any other regular money) via Wyre’s payment platform, which is also used by OpenSea. The company added that it is working with “top-tier artists” from the music world who will create content for the platform and also open lines of communication with willing fans.
LimeWire’s resurrection is being handled by Julian and Paul Zehetmayr, who are also both co-CEOs of the company. The Zehetmayrs are the figures behind Eversign, as well as b2b-software companies Currencylayer and Stack Holdings. Julian, in a statement, said that “it’s important to note that we are not relaunching LimeWire as an alternative to streaming platforms, but rather as an additional channel for artists to sell exclusive music and art directly to collectors.”
Of course, it’s not clear if the folks who really loved LimeWire had much affection for the platform itself back in the day. After all, LimeWire’s ability to let you illegally pirate music from your friends and enemies came with the added inclusion of some spyware. But with LimeWire back and Napster lurking in the background as some sort of VR thing these days, maybe we can club together to get Kazaa revived so we can once again feel the delight at hearing Corky and the Juice Pigs’ Eskimo Song even though we’d tried to download the Backstreet Boys’ I Want It That Way.