Nas teams up with LiveXLive to create urban content

Live entertainment company LiveXLive has signed a deal with rapper Nas and music company Mass Appeal, home to Nas’ record label, for a “360 degree partnership” to create, produce and distribute original urban-focused content.

Mass Appeal and Nas will curate a station on Slacker Radio, the internet radio service acquired by LiveXLive in 2017, and work to develop brand partnerships to establish new opportunities across urban and hip hop music.

Under the agreement, LiveXLive, Nas and Mass Appeal will work in conjunction to produce a slate of original programming for the LiveXLive platform, and co-produce original content to sell to third parties.

“I’m excited for Mass Appeal to continue expanding into different areas of media and music consumption in 2019,” says Nas. “Our partnership with LivexLive is the next step in that evolution.”

“We want to show the power live performances can have in connecting with fans, and this collaboration will bring them experiences in real time,” adds Nas.

“We want to show the power live performances can have in connecting with fans”

Chairman and chief executive of LiveXLive, Rob Ellin, comments on the “impressive” accomplishments of both Nas and Mass Appeal.

“Our partnership with Nas and Mass Appeal symbolises our status as a leader in hip hop and urban-focused content. The synergy of our partnership will be powerful as we together develop authentic, innovative concepts and programming,” says Ellin.

Launched in 2015, LiveXLive initially dubbed itself the “ESPN of premium live music experiences”, aiming the create a 24-hour network of live music broadcasting. The company livestreamed eight major music festivals last year, including Sziget, Paléo and Montreux Jazz Festival.

Expanding into other areas, LiveXLive acquired Wantickets in 2016 and created its own management division, LXL Influencers, in 2017. The Nasdaq Capital Market-listed company now produces much of its own, original music-related content.

LiveXLive continues to grow financially, reporting a record revenue of US$8 million in Q2 2019, driven by subscriber growth and advertising revenue.

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