Do you miss Limewire? Comparing whats left in the legal department.

Limewire Website Currently After A Court Injunction

     Limewire was known as a music store for free people (people who didn’t want to pay). They offered every song you could possibly see on any other music store like Rhapsody or iTunes, but at a better quality, format, and cost (free). Yet does shutting down this powerhouse mean the end of piracy on music itself. No, but it sends a clear message that paid methods aren’t enough or just don’t work. If we compare this service to others we will see major differences and ideas that other services don’t hang on to.

AAC format and what it looks like in iTunes.

     Limewire offered music in many formats. It may have not offered it in every single format, but it gave you more choice than iTunes which is AAC and works on Apple products only or Rhapsody’s low quality MP3s. The people who share on Limewire offer more choices than what you can get in iTunes. It can give you OGG, MP3, AAC, etc. Limewire gives the user greater flexibility.

     The service offered great benefits to Independent Artists.  This allowed artists who didn’t have enough capital get noticed around the world by downloaders using Limewire. The service basically offered free advertising for artists and publicity. Limewire helped to promote the work by offering it as a download like anything else. Then people started listening and sharing and the independent artists were pleased.

Amazon MP3 offers 69 cent downloads.

    

     The music is free, but it causes a rethinking. Limewire offers brand name music at a low price, nothing. This gave users an idea: Why should I pay for music that I can get for free? Next, a response, the RIAA started suing people over the DMCA act. This also caused a Renaissance in the music industry; the removal of DRM from legal downloads as they started to realize that people are downloading because they can find things for free that are better than paid. This made iTunes remove DRM and Amazon to charge $0.69 music downloads, far lower than the industry standards.

     Limewire may have caused havoc in US copyright laws, but it did change things in the way consumers get their music. As they say, more competition equals more return for the consumer.