It’s never really the end of the road for Kiss.
The hard rock quartet has sold its catalog, brand and intellectual property to Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment Group in a transaction estimated to be worth more than US$300 million, it was announced Thursday.
This isn’t the first time Kiss has teamed up with Pophouse, co-founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus. When the band’s current lineup ― founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons along with guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer ― took the stage on the final night of its farewell tour in December at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden York, she finished by revealing digitized avatars of herself.
This cutting-edge technology was created by Industrial Light&Magic, George Lucas’ special effects company, in partnership with Pophouse. The two companies recently teamed up for the “ABBA Voyage” show in London, where fans were treated to a full concert of the Swedish band at their peak, performed by their own digital avatars.
Terms of use of Kiss avatars have yet to be announced, but Pophouse CEO Per Sundin says fans can expect a Kiss biopic, documentary, and experience on the horizon .
An avatar show is expected to launch in the second half of 2027 ― but don’t expect it to be anything like “ABBA Voyage,” Mr. Sundin told the AP. Fans can expect it to launch in North America.
Mr. Sundin says the goal of the purchase is to expose Kiss to new generations ― which he says sets Pophouse apart from other music catalog acquisitions.
“The record companies, the big three that remain, are doing a fantastic job, but they have so many catalogs that they can’t concentrate on everything,” he explains. We work with Universal (Music Group) and Kiss, even though we own the rights to the artists, and we do it in collaboration with Kiss. But yeah, we bought all the rights, and it’s not something I’ve seen so clearly before. »
“I don’t like the word acquisition,” Gene Simmons retorted to the AP over Zoom, assuring that the group would never sell its catalog to a company it didn’t like.
“Collaboration is exactly what it’s all about. It would be a breach of our fiduciary duty to the thing we created to abandon it, he continued.
“People might be mistaken and think that Pophouse is doing this stuff now and we’re just sitting around in Beverly Hills. No that’s not true. We are in the trenches with them. We talk to each other all the time. We share our ideas. It’s a collaboration. Paul (Stanley) and I in particular, along with the group, will stay engaged. It’s our baby. »
And in the process: no more touring, for good. “We are no longer going to tour as Kiss, period,” he assures. We are no longer going to put on makeup and go on stage. »
Kiss is Pophouse’s second investment outside of Sweden: in February, Cyndi Lauper entered into a partnership with the company that includes the sale of the majority stake in her music and a new immersive show project she calls a ” immersive play”, which transports the audience to the New York of their childhood.
The goal is to find new ways to introduce Lauper’s music to his fans and younger audiences through new performances and live experiences.
“Most business people, when you pitch an idea to them, their eyes glaze over, they just want your biggest hits,” Ms. Lauper told the AP at Pophouse headquarters in Stockholm last February. . But these people are a multimedia company, they are not looking to buy my catalog, they want to create something new. »