LimeWire, an early music file-sharing service that was shuttered then relaunched, acquired the Fyre Festival brand – bringing together two formerly infamous names under one roof.
“Once synonymous with disruption in their own very different ways, LimeWire and Fyre are now poised to begin an entirely new chapter – one grounded in technology, transparency, and a sense of humor,” said LimeWire in a press release titled “LimeWire Acquires Fyre Festival Brand – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?”
LimeWire, which was sued and shuttered Napster-mode in the early 2000s file-sharing era, was relaunched in 2022 focused on digital content sharing through decentralized infrastructure and says it saw millions of users return to the platform.
The Fyre Festival was the elusive luxury music event organized by Billy McFarland and American rapper Ja Rule in 2017. Bahamian-set, it promised ticket buyers gourmet meals and well-appointed villas but delivered packaged sandwiches, dirt fields and tents. McFarland pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud to defraud investors and ticket holders in 2018 and was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to forfeit $26 million. He was released from prison in 2022.
The Fyre brand has since become a symbol of viral marketing, ambition and the consequences of overpromising, with several documentaries on the ill-faced fest. Oscar-winning director Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Love and Thunder) is set to produce a New York-bound stage musical-comedy about the festival and McFarland.
“LimeWire’s acquisition is not about repeating past mistakes – it’s about saving one of the internet’s most infamous cultural memes from extinction and turning it into something new. Fyre became a symbol of hype gone wrong, but it also made history,” said LimeWire CEO Julian Zehetmayr. “We’re not bringing the festival back – we’re bringing the brand and the meme back to life. This time with real experiences, and without the cheese sandwiches.”
LimeWire didn’t disclose financial details but said it secured the Fyre Festival brand after a competitive bidding process that it said included creative agency Maximum Effort, co-founded by Ryan Reynolds. It appears they were the winners when the brand was sold for about $245k on eBay in July in an online auction.
LimeWire was mum on its reimagined vision for Fyre now that it has the naming rights, but said it “expands beyond the digital realm and taps into real-world experiences, community, and surprise” with more details in coming months.
“We’re not here to repeat the mistakes — we’re here to own the meme and do it right. Fyre became a symbol of everything that can go wrong. Now it’s our chance to show what happens when you pair cultural relevance with real execution,” said LimeWire CEO Marcus Feistl.
