Say the name “LimeWire” to internet users of a certain generation and it will conjure up memories of pirated movies and illegal music downloads.
All that changed in 2022, when LimeWire relaunched as a music-based NFT platform, with the company looking to become a creator studio.
Today, the company has taken that goal even further, with the company’s new owners purchasing the popular AI art generator Blue Willow.
What does this mean for content creators?
Compared to Midjourney, Blue Willow is a new kid on the block. Founded in January 2023, it has already proven to be a popular choice among AI artists, primarily due to its commitment to accessible AI art technology.
The platform itself is slightly different from many text-to-image AI generators. As an aggregator of multiple AI models, it tests various delivery models, including Stable Diffusion, to find the best models for a user’s prompts. It also maintains a strong presence on its Discord server, where community members share images and ideas.
Don’t expect this to change with the LimeWire acquisition. For now, it appears the plan is to allow BlueWillow to continue to thrive on Discord, while also integrating the tool into LimeWire Studio.
LimeWire already includes a content creation space on its website. In its Explore section, users can purchase music, videos, and images generated by artificial intelligence. Creators can set up subscriptions for fans and sell their creations on the site.
According to the company, “Every post you share on LimeWire automatically becomes a digital collectible that each of your followers can own. If you have 300 followers, each post will consist of 300 digital collectibles. When your fans trade your collectibles, you earn a 2.5% royalty on each resale. The origin of the NFT is therefore clear, with all so-called collectibles created on the blockchain, although the BlueWillow buyout is part of the company’s plans to move away from non-fungible tokens while expanding its user. -base..
However, dive into the AI Studio section of the site and users can create their own content as well. For now, only text-to-image generators are available, with the option to select different AI-based models, including BlueWIllow. Video and audio creations should be arriving soon.
It’s not yet clear how much the company paid for BlueWillow, but what is clear is that members of the BlueWillow team will not be joining LimeWire. It remains to be seen what impact this will have on AI graphic design software (and its current pricing model) after the transition period.