Bastion of artistic integrity KISS sells out to hologram firm

Remember when Justin Timberlake performed with a giant “hologram” of Prince (it was actually just a projection on a sheet) during his 2018 Super Bowl halftime show, and everyone freaked out? Those were the good old days, apparently. Now, artists are willingly turning themselves into dead-eyed avatars and making millions off it. Cool! There truly isn’t any art that’s safe from the robot revolution.

Maybe they just saw how profitable it was for those that came before, or maybe it was JoJo Siwa’s red carpet cosplay that caused them to throw in the towel, but KISS just sold their entire music catalog, name, image, likeness, and presumably thousands of pounds of face paint to a Swedish investment firm called Pophouse Entertainment, who—you guessed it—specialize in turning iconic bands into digital, worse versions of themselves to “perform” for the millions of fans still willing to shell out to see them, per the Associated Press. You guys—we have to stop making it so easy for them. We’re talking a $300 million-plus deal. That sucks!

Of course, there is precedent for this move. Pophouse was co-founded by ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus, who launched his own successful AI show in London in 2022, called ABBA Voyage. According to Variety, ABBA Voyage is currently raking in over $1 million per week, with plans to take the show around the world. (The firm has also acquired the catalogs of Avicii, Swedish House Mafia, and Cyndi Lauper, so be on guard, fans of those three acts.) According to ABBA Voyage’s website, the band has “created the kind of concert they always wanted, performing for their fans at their very best: as digital versions of themselves backed by today’s finest musicians.”

Why anyone would rather go to this than, say, a local karaoke night or couch screening of Mamma Mia! is a mystery to this writer, but KISS is clearly hoping to replicate some of the same success with their own avatar show, set to launch in 2027. The band first announced their “new era” four months ago during the final New York stop of their “End Of The Road” tour, which now seems like a bit of a misnomer, if not a chilling prophecy for the touring industry. “Your power has made us immortal,” announces a winged, larger-than-life Gene Simmons—complete with Homelander-esque laser eyes—in a recording from the show. The whole thing is creepy and off-putting… and the future, baby! Hooray.