Forever young, just like in Bob Dylan's 1973 song: by selling their avatars to the Swedish group Pophouse, Kiss aim for immortality.
The American rock band that announced its farewell to the scene last December has sold the rights to its music and brand to the Swedish entertainment company Pophouse in a 300 million dollar deal that also includes digital images of the band's members and the license to use them in shows similar to ABBA Voyage, the show on stage in London which brings to the stage digital versions of the small Swedish group (the ABBAtars) involved in Mamma Mia! and other versions of their greatest hits. The idea of Pophouse, founded by ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus, is to keep Kiss in the public eye for "generations to come" despite the group members' decision to stop performing live shows. The band founded in 1973 (the year of Forever Young) by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (now in their seventies) and also made up in the current version of two sixty-somethings, the guitarist Tommy Thayer and the drummer Eric Singer, has sold 100 million albums over 50 years. The sale demonstrates that the music catalog market, inaugurated by Dylan in 2020 and imitated by other rock 'senators' such as Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon, continues to do well, but also that investors, in the world revolutionized by artificial intelligence , are taking a more innovative approach than simply playing songs by successful singers. “The future is exciting,” Simmons said in a behind-the-scenes clip from their last concert in December at Madison Square Garden in which the band members wore motion-capture suits for George's avatar production. Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic: "We can live forever." With the Kiss holograms, Pophouse will be able to implement initiatives such as those that Simmons recently spoke about, i.e. a virtual concert similar to Abba Voyage, the show on stage in London which brings digital versions of the Swedish group engaged in Mamma Mia and other versions of their greatest hits. There will also be a biopic, a documentary and any other "immersive" experiences related to the band. "They will be able to do a concert on the same night in three different cities and three different continents," said Pophouse CEO Per Sundin.
Fans got a taste of the show last December at Madison Square Garden, when avatars of the group performed God Gave Rock And Roll To You. The idea, Johan Lagerlöf, head of investments of the Swedish company, told the Financial Times,is to "fulfill the band's vision of becoming immortal."
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