New LimeWire AI-powered music platform uses Polygon, Algorand

Company continues use of blockchain technology to make AI-generated user creations ownable and tradeable

article-image

Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal | DAS 2022 by Blockworks

share

The LimeWire brand, once synonymous with file-sharing in the early 2000s, has morphed into an AI-powered content publishing platform.

In 2021, brothers Julian and Paul Zehetmayr acquired LimeWire’s intellectual property for an undisclosed sum, rebranding it as a blockchain-focused project. Under their ownership, LimeWire has harnessed blockchain technology to realize its updated vision.

The company’s new AI Music Studio lets users create tunes using generative AI tools and subsequently publish them on the same platform, it revealed Tuesday.

LimeWire makes such content ownable and tradeable via blockchain tech, allowing creators to monetize it via an ad-revenue share program. 

“All content pieces created in the LimeWire AI Music Studio are minted either on Polygon or on Algorand,” LimeWire co-CEO Julian Zehetmayr told Blockworks in an email. “Creators can simply select which chain they or their communities prefer.”

Brothers Julian and Paul Zehetmayr bought LimeWire’s intellectual property in 2021. The company raised about $10 million in April 2022 — saying at the time its focus was launching a music-focused digital collectibles marketplace as a way “to drastically lower barriers of entry into the world of NFTs.”

LimeWire’s NFT marketplace went live in 2022. Its public LMWR token sale closed in June. 

The company’s decision to let creators choose which blockchain to mint content to is consistent with LimeWire’s historical multi-chain approach. LimeWire said in a June 2022 blog post that while the majority of its platform NFTs would be minted on Algorand, it would use the Ethereum blockchain for specific invite-only collections.

LimeWire debuted its creator studio with image generation capabilities in August, noting it would mint content to the Polygon blockchain. It acquired image generation platform BlueWillow the following month. 

“As music continues to evolve, so does our dedication to providing aspiring musicians with cutting-edge tools that empower and amplify their artistic expression,” co-CEO Paul Zehetmayr said in a statement.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
  • Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

Blockworks Research analyst Boccaccio explains the HyperLiquid controversy and why they need to adjust risk and margin

article-image

What Grayscale’s watching going into the second quarter and why crypto had a rough start to the year

article-image

Sol’s price drop was partially triggered by one of the year’s more chaotic memecoin events

article-image

Are digital assets just part of “normal” finance conversations now?

article-image

It’s a busy week as DC prepares for confirmations and policies that may have major impacts on crypto

article-image

NFT collection Azuki is releasing anime-inspired decks for a physical trading card game