Kiss' three current members reveal digital avatars of themselves, created by Pophouse and George Lucas' ILM, which will tour as the rock band stops live touring
On Saturday night, Kiss closed out the final performance of their “The End of the Road” farewell tour at New York City's famed Madison Square Garden.
Context & Ripple Effects
Kiss' farewell performance marks a handoff from a touring act to a digitally produced live property. The project follows the model established by ABBA's motion-capture avatar concert, whose producers were already planning expansion beyond London.
The move also sits alongside Pophouse's later acquisition of Kiss' music, name, image, and likeness rights, as reported in coverage of the rights sale. That makes the avatars relevant not just as a visual experiment but as a potential way to keep the band active after its members stop conventional touring.
First-order effects
- Kiss can end its live touring while Pophouse and ILM develop a separate avatar-led touring format using the members' digital likenesses.
- Fans and venues gain the prospect of new Kiss performances that do not require the band to maintain a conventional tour schedule.
Second-order effects
- Pophouse's control of the relevant rights can concentrate creative, technical, and commercial decisions around one long-lived live property rather than individual tour cycles.
- The demonstrated demand for avatar concerts, including ABBA Voyage's reported revenue, raises the bar for other legacy artists considering whether digital shows can support the cost of production and dedicated presentation.
Third-order effects
- If avatar touring proves repeatable, music catalogs and likeness rights may be valued increasingly for their ability to generate live experiences after artists retire from the road.
- The format could shift more live-music investment toward rights management, motion capture, visual-effects production, and durable venue experiences; whether it scales broadly will depend on audience willingness to treat a digital performance as a concert substitute.
The trend: Legacy music acts are turning artist likeness and catalog rights into persistent, technology-enabled live entertainment properties rather than assets tied solely to active touring.