Kiss Sells Catalog, Brand Name And IP. Gene Simmons Assures Fans It Is A ‘Collaboration’

Kiss’s career never truly ends. The hard rock quartet disclosed Thursday that it sold its repertoire, brand name, and intellectual property to Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment Group in a deal worth more than $300 million.

Kiss has previously collaborated with Pophouse, which ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus co-founded. When the band’s current lineup — founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, guitarist Tommy Thayer, and drummer Eric Singer — took the stage on the final night of their farewell tour in December at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden, they revealed digitized avatars of themselves.

Kiss Sells Catalog, Brand Name And IP. Gene Simmons Assures Fans It Is A ‘Collaboration’

The cutting-edge technology was developed by George Lucas’ special-effects business, Industrial Light & Magic, in collaboration with Pophouse. The two firms recently collaborated on the “ABBA Voyage” show in London, which allowed fans to attend a full concert by the Swedish band during their peak, played by their digital avatars.

The methods of using Kiss’ avatars have yet to be revealed, but Pophouse CEO Per Sundin says fans may expect a biopic, a documentary, and a Kiss experience in the future.

An avatar show is set to debut in the second half of 2027, but don’t expect it to resemble “ABBA Voyage,” Sundin told the Associated Press. Fans should anticipate it beginning in North America.

Sundin says the purchase aims to introduce Kiss to new generations, which he believes distinguishes Pophouse from other music collection buys.

“The record companies, the three big ones that are left, they’re doing a fantastic job, but they have so many catalogs and they can’t focus on everything,” he said. “We collaborate with Universal (Music Group) and Kiss, even though we will hold the artists’ rights, and we are doing it in conjunction with Kiss. But, yeah, we purchased full rights, which I have never seen stated so clearly before.”

Kiss Sells Catalog, Brand Name And IP. Gene Simmons Assures Fans It Is A ‘Collaboration’

“I don’t like the word acquisition,” Gene Simmons tells the AP via Zoom, ensuring the band will never sell their archive to a firm they don’t like.

“Collaboration is precisely what it is about. It would breach our implicit fiduciary obligation — see what I did there? — to relinquish the entity we built,” he added. “People may misinterpret and assume, ‘OK, now Pophouse is doing that stuff, and we’re simply in Beverly Hills twiddling our thumbs.’ No, this is not true. We’re in the trenches alongside them. We talk all the time. We share ideas. It is a partnership. Paul (Stanley) and I, especially with the band, will remain committed to this. “It is our baby.”

And that means no more live tours, for real. “We’re not going to tour again as Kiss, period,” he explains. “We’re not going to go put the makeup on and go out there.”

Kiss is Pophouse’s second venture outside of Sweden. Cyndi Lauper signed into a relationship with the corporation in February, which included selling most of her music and a new immersive performance endeavor she refers to as an “immersive theater piece” that transports audiences to the New York where she was raised.

Kiss Sells Catalog, Brand Name And IP. Gene Simmons Assures Fans It Is A ‘Collaboration’

The goal is to find new methods to introduce Lauper’s music to fans and younger audiences through live performances and events.

“Most suits, when you tell them an idea, their eyes glaze over, and they just want your greatest hits,” Lauper told the Associated Press at Pophouse headquarters in Stockholm in February. “But these guys are a multimedia company, they’re not looking to just buy my catalog, they want to make something new.”

SOURCE – (AP)