With record sales continuing to plummet partly as a result of illegal downloading, it’s become increasingly difficult for artists to promote their brand to a buying audience. Now, in a recent interview with Tech Crunch, Queensbridge legend Nas discusses his new avenue to success.
Nas talked about his new business endeavour 12Society, a lifestyle website that will provide buyers with a number of hand-picked items from a host of celebrities every month for the cost of $39.99. The Def Jam rapper explained that 12Society is a new means for artists and athletes to expand their personal brands. He added that the website is partly inspired by comedian Louis C.K.’s decision to sell his comedy special Live at the Beacon Theater exclusively online through his personal website.
“I started 12Society in June with the hopes of bringing this generation the new wave of commerce. Providing my fans with access to products, brands, and technology that they haven’t seen before,” he said. “Increased accessibility and visibility has always been the future, and finally, that time is now…entertainment is about self-promotion — using the power of your fans through social media to market live shows and new business ventures and move a few records. The direct connection to the fans is not just freeing artists from the old corporate structure; it’s redefining the relationship between creator and audience.”
He added, “Artists everywhere took notice when Louis C.K. sold his stand-up special and show tickets without a network backing him on the promotion and distribution. That truly was innovation at its best. To me, that’s inspirational. That’s bringing things full circle and is the kind of independent triumph that will allow artists to create freely and reap the full benefit of their craft.”
Check out the full piece over at Tech Crunch.
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Nice idea
…AZ had years ago and tryin’ the same shit on HeyAZ.com where you can also subscribe and get a package full of shit for ONLY 40 bucks.
Could be a decent idea. There are lots of people that would love to get their hands around stuff that celebrities wear or use. You just never know with websites though. Good to see my boy Nas doing something outside of rap though. At least publicly that is.
maybe im wrong, and it is just my personal preference. I see no value provided by this company at all. Plus the monthly subscription is steep, $40 per month. It’s a glorified catalog subscription service. The Library of America has a similar structure, you pay X amount per month, and they send you books. They have excellent quality books, but its much more cost effective to just buy the books individually you want on Amazon or elsewhere.
Sounds iffy.
if his was lil wayne you nas dickriders would be saying its a wack idea
TROLL ALERT
WTF
DX should look into Nas’ ownership stake in RapGenius.com 😉 A lil birdie told me about it at RTB.
This is news from 3 months ago. Real nice DX
@HHDX
You’re late..like really like but w/e.
@Real Talk 100
Uh, it’s actually a steal with the 40 dollars a month. You get 125 dollars worth of items each month (at least 4 items(6 at most)). Unless you live in China/got ’em 5 finger discounts.
And I just received word that according to Dream Hampton the article on tech crunch was largely written by Jay Electronica
Ah, I see what you did there HHDX. But yeah…you would’ve had better results with a better title. So people won’t think it’s old news(even though…
To be fare to HHDX, this article is quite new although the business launched months ago but i get whr u coming from.
LMAO@ ur last sentence, Dream Hampton’s 15 seconds of fame been over for a min, she just got wet for no reasons.
I watched the unboxing for some of the customers and I wasn’t impressed enough with the items to sign-up. Also I can’t see paying upfront for something while not knowing what I’ll be getting! Sorry Nas, this will not be a successful venture unless the boxes start to contain guaranteed dope stuff.
WACK WACK WACK
NAS SHOULD BE FUCKING ASHAMED
SUMMER ON SMASH!!!
Your parents should be as well.
“I started 12Society in June…”
why are yall just reporting this?
And it’s still a dumb idea for a website. No one is going to pay a subscription for a website.
See above(my earlier comment). And you gotta respect the hustle
NAS is a piece of shit… Makes you think Kelis was right… Way too rip off the ‘community,’ asswipe… Though I can’t imagine many folks being THAT goddamn stupid as to subscribe to this idiocy.
While you’re most likely a troll and you’ll assume I’m a stan, you’re an idiot. Make a quick youtube search of 12society and you’ll see tons of videos that include unboxing. Suck it?
I SEE YOU NASIR…JUST FOLLOWING THE BLUEPRINT!!!
The price maybe to steep for the economic climate but the idea is good.
fuckin life can be hard even on celebreties.Nas iz hustlin hard indeed.lifes a bitch.
LMAO @ Nas trying so hard. The wife thing you had going on there failed, what makes you think clothing line will do any better.
I signed up for 12society, but after 2 months/boxes, I canceled. They gave you items that you normally would not buy or things that are overstock somewhere. In other words, they gave you pure shit.