There are 3 problems with LimeWire:
1. There are enough viruses and other malware to make it miserable.
2. File sharing is an invitation for other people to access your system.
3. LimeWire was one of the sites the people at the RIAA used to sue people for downloading songs without payment. The RIAA would have you believe you're stealing from the artists when it actually represents the recording industry. The artists get nothing from those suits.
1. There is software to protect you from 99.999% of that junk. Most of which is written by script kiddies who are just copying old malware and viruses that will only fool the people who don't know to scan everything they download before they open it.
2. Don't share files !!! Just use Limewire or other peer to peer software to download other peoples shared content. You are not required to share and there is a setting to change from the default "share files" to "do not share".
3. Several artists have been getting after people on an individual basis and filing suit on their own. But you are correct that the artists do not benifit from the lawsuits filed by RIAA, excepting if the artist has a residuals contract with the record companies or actually owns the rights to their own music.
Disclaimer *** It should be noted that downloading files is NOT legal and is, in fact, stealing.
. Yep, I'm hard-headed, lol 
