Startup · 2019–now
Limelight Music
- #10
- App Store Music, Aug 9, 2019
- 20,000+
- Users by Sep 10, 2019
- 5
- Major versions
A location-based music discovery app I have built as founding engineer since 2019, through five major versions, a token era and the 5.x release shipping now.
- Brand
- Limelight Music
- My role
- Founding engineer · five versions since 2019
- When
- 2019–now
What I did
Started as a prototype called Locartist in May 2019, renamed Limelight that month, in beta by July and incorporated as Limelight Music Discovery the same summer. Since then: the native apps, a Flutter rebuild across platforms in 2021 and again in 2024, Node and Go services behind them, payments, the LMLT token presale and launch in 2021–22, and an Android relaunch in 2026.
Launch and partners
Limelight began in November 2018 as a “music from your city” tab I wanted inside the DailyRapFacts app. I prototyped it as Locartist in May 2019, renamed it Limelight the same month, had a beta live by late June, and in July signed RapTV’s founder, Daniel Snow, as marketing partner. The app went live on the App Store on July 24, 2019, and on July 26 RapTV’s pages launched it for free: 3,200 people signed up in 24 hours. One @rap post on August 8, which drew 58,300 likes, took it from 3,900 users to more than 10,000 in a day, then 14,000 by August 16 with about $900 a month in subscriptions, and 20,000 by September 10. By August 9 it was #10 in Music on the App Store, up from #89 on July 27. In February 2020 the app moved to a new App Store record under DailyRapFacts LLC, the company behind the network that launched it.
Where it is now
Version 5.0.9 is on the App Store, 5.2 is in TestFlight and a macOS build is prepared for submission. It has been on the App Store, with paying artists, ever since the 2019 launch.
The receipts
Screenshots from the day, not a memory.
Jul 27, 2019#89 in Music, a day after the public launch.App Store screenshot, posted to Facebook 
Aug 9, 2019#10 in Music, the morning after the @rap post.App Store screenshot, posted to Facebook 
Aug 8, 2019The @rap post that took Limelight from 3,900 users to more than 10,000 in a day: 58,300 likes and 818 comments.Instagram, @rap 
2026Limelight today: the Discover tab, with new artists, charts and music near you.Limelight iOS app
The full story
Limelight Music2019–present#10App Store Music, Aug 9, 2019A music discovery app that hit #10 in Music in its first month, still shipping five versions later.
Read the case studyThe services this involved
Websites
Hand-built in Next.js, fast on a phone, and structured so search engines can read every page. No templates, no page builders, nothing that breaks when a plugin updates.
What it involves BuildAI & automation
Chat that qualifies leads while you sleep, intake forms that fill your CRM, reminders that send themselves. I have built AI into products since before most people had heard of a prompt.
What it involves