LimeWire Tries To Go Legit, Adds Store

Limewire is trying to follow in the footsteps of P2P music download cousin Napster by adding a store to its P2P download service. The company says the store will be connected to the P2P service it offers, but does not specify how yet. The music being offered in the store is compatible with all major MP3 players, including the iPod.

Limewire is joining the DRM free revolution in addition to going legit. All songs in their catalog will be DRM free. Users will be able to log in using an existing LimeWire account if they have one (possibly a bad idea for these existing users for a variety of reasons), and will be able to buy their songs one at a time with the a la carte option, or participate in an inexpensive download plan.

So far the store only has two major distributors of music on board, Nettwerk Productions and IRIS Distribution. This is better than some stores who have recently tried to launch without having anyone signed on at all (remember QTrax?). This brings the LimeWire catalog to a self declared 500,000 tunes, though that has yet to be confirmed.

Having two major distributors on board means that users aren’t stuck with only independent or unsigned artists (a common complaint with services like eMusic). They will have access to some of the better known names as well (think Barenaked Ladies, BB King, and others), though by no means a significant number of heavy hitters. The bulk of the catalog remains full of lesser known artists.

There are a variety of potential problems with the success of LimeWire as a business model. The most prominent issue, and one other bloggers have noted, is the fact that LimeWire is currently embroiled in active lawsuits regarding its P2P service (Artista vs LimeWire, sponsored by none other than the RIAA). The problem hardly anyone seems to have mentioned yet is one with its very own existing users.

Why on earth does LimeWire think that users currently accustomed to spending zero dollars on music found through the existing P2P service would want to spend any dollars on music bought from a different branch of the same company? Music lovers who want to pay have stable, well known entities providing both DRM free and DRM saddled music from both independent and major labels (Amazon, iTunes, eMusic and more). If you want to break into an established market and compete with the industry giants, you’re going to have to do better than a hack LimeWire add on store opened in the middle of a major lawsuit.