Is anybody using the LimeWire Store?

Lime Wire LLC (the company) has announced a deal with The Orchard, a large digital distributor for independent artists and small labels. The deal will effectively double the amount of music available in the LimeWire Store to more than 2 million tracks.

I wrote about the store when Lime Wire first announced it a year ago, thinking that it was a possible exit strategy in case the major labels won their lawsuit against Lime Wire and forced the shutdown of its Gnutella-based file-sharing client. But this announcement seems to show that Lime Wire is taking the store seriously as an alternate business.

Here's my question: if you're aware of LimeWire at all, aren't you already using it to grab free music? I suppose if you couldn't find a file for free, it might be convenient to use the same client to buy it, but doesn't that seem a little bit like...giving up? Any LimeWire users out there care to chime in?

[cggkevin]

I applaud their efforts to become a legitimate music distributer.I wish someone would offer downloadable music in a drm -free losless format, artists and consumers need to put some pressure on the industry in this regards.

Any idea how the Limewire Store selection stacks up against EMusic? they seem to be targeting the same indie croud.

[euphoriaspell]

I think the store is probably going to go unnoticed and unused, mainly because its so easy to get the music for free. If you can't find it free on LimeWire, then you can probably get it on SoulSeek (by Sun Systems I think) or other programs.

As a user of LimeWire, I know that its much easier to "steal" the music.

[chazzbo2009]

Screw Limewire.It is bad enough.I am a freind of small independent jazz label and it is bad enough that anybody can trorrent.But that is way of world.I have used P2P for out of print stuff myself and some that isn't.But now these people have taken his intellectual property and are charging $10 for his music and outright stealing money from this guy.They send him zip.If anybody knows of how I can help him request or stop not just file shares but stealing proceeds on top pplease pot a response.
Cheers
Chazz