P2P file sharing software maker LimeWire is making a late market entry to music sales. Their offering is however pretty solid on the technical point of view, as they are planning to sell non-DRM protected music in MP3 format at 256Kbps bitrate. This means that the music can be transfered to devices without limitations, there is a huge variety of MP3 compatible devices and the 256Kbps bitrate guarantees a very high audio quality comparable to a CD. According to the source, they have already been able to grab a number of well known artists for distribution.

The two distributors are responsible for not just a number of independent music labels, but also a handful of well-known artists. Nettwerk Productions is home to the Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, and Paul Van Dyk, to name a few, and is known in part for signing on with DRM-free music store Amie Street earlier this year.

LimeWire's foray into paid music downloads comes as somewhat of a surprise, given the already-saturated market and Napster's utter failure to gain any appreciable market share over the long term after going legit itself. With Napster, it was hoped that the brand name would translate to success, and LimeWire is clearly hoping for the same.

Source: Arstechnica