Whereas Hatsune Miku‘s voice was nonetheless generated by a vocal synthesiser, the voices of right now’s music avatars is produced by synthetic intelligence. One significantly profitable mission is “ABBA Voyage”. Utilizing refined know-how, avatars of the 4 ABBA members Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad had been delivered to life on stage in London, creating a brand new viewers attraction that shall be examined in additional element partially 3 of the collection on “Digital Music Worlds”.
Digital Music Worlds – Half 3: ABBA Voyage
The event and implementation of ABBA Voyage
An early instance of AI generated music avatars is arguably Sweden’s most profitable music export of all time: ABBA. After Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad made the far-reaching resolution in December 1982 to cease performing collectively, there have been repeated rumours of a reunion. Most just lately, these rumours had been fuelled by the large success of the primary “Mamma Mia!” film in 2008,[1] which was primarily based on the musical of the identical title that premiered in London’s West Finish in 1999.[2] ABBA mastermind Björn Ulvaeus even felt compelled to emphasize in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph: “We’ll by no means seem on stage once more. There may be merely no motivation to re-group. Cash isn’t an element and we want folks to recollect us as we had been – younger, exuberant, filled with power and ambition.”[3] Not even a suggestion of US$1 billion from an American-British monetary consortium for a joint tour, made to the pop group in 2000, may persuade the celebs to face on the live performance stage collectively once more.[4]
Though this perspective wouldn’t change later, there was no point out of a digital reunion on the time. Nevertheless, in an interview with Billboard journal on the finish of October 2016, Simon Fuller, the creator of the TV expertise present “American Idol” and CEO of 19 Leisure, introduced his plan to resurrect ABBA in digital actuality utilizing the most recent applied sciences and synthetic intelligence. He satisfied the 4 ABBA stars to take part and invited them to play an lively position: “We’re exploring a brand new technological world, with digital actuality and synthetic intelligence on the forefront, that can enable us to create new types of leisure and content material we couldn’t have beforehand imagined.”[5]
Step one on this course was to report a brand new album. Subsequently, ABBA reunited in a Stockholm sound studio in spring 2018, the place they recorded two new songs: ‘I Nonetheless Have Religion in You’ and ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’. Nevertheless, in an interview with the BBC, Björn Ulvaeus was quite obscure in regards to the digital ABBA mission. The one data he revealed was that work was underway on creating avatars, or ‘ABBA-tars’, that will tour instead of the human ABBA members.[6]
The mission gained momentum when British music video director Baillie Walsh joined the event workforce. In an in-depth interview for “Esquire”, he recounted how he was invited by the 2 govt producers, Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson, Benny Andersson’s son, to proceed growing the digital ABBA mission from 2019 onwards.[7] Initially, the concept was to convey ABBA onto the stage as holograms. Nevertheless, because the know-how was thought-about outdated and unsatisfactory, Walsh sat down with representatives from Industrial Gentle & Magic (ILM), the corporate based by Star Wars creator George Lucas, to discover the technical prospects of AI-generated ABBA avatars performing life-size on stage. The answer was a 10-metre-high LED wall, the place the inside lighting and stage lighting had been coordinated with the assistance of quite a few cameras to create the phantasm of a three-dimensional presence of the projected avatars.[8] Nevertheless, to attain this, the avatars first needed to be created utilizing movement seize know-how much like that used for Hatsune Miku. Within the winter of 2020, the 4 ABBA stars subsequently met at a specialist studio in Stockholm, the place they slipped into fits geared up with small spherical markers at particular factors on the physique. These fits had been used to seize the celebs’ actions from totally different angles utilizing 160 cameras.[9] It took 5 lengthy and intense weeks to report the dance sequences for every tune with ABBA’s 4 members and quite a few youthful physique doubles underneath the course of star choreographer Wayne McGregor utilizing movement seize.[10] The faces of Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid had been additionally captured intimately and rejuvenated utilizing AI. This ensured that the 4 ABBA members regarded convincingly actual on stage.[11]
The consequence was spectacular when, on 26 Could 2022, the premiere passed off on the ABBA Enviornment, which had been erected near Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London for 3,000 spectators, with distinguished visitors together with the Swedish royal couple. However it wasn’t simply the viewers who raved in regards to the convincingly practical avatar present,[12] which, with a finances of US$175 million, was the most costly stage manufacturing so far.[13]
Nevertheless, the investments have paid off. By 2022, 675,600 tickets had already been bought for “ABBA Voyage,” producing a income of GBP 97.1 million and a pre-tax revenue of practically GBP 3 million for Aniara Ltd., the corporate accountable for the digital present. In 2023, the variety of tickets bought rose to 1.1 million, leading to a turnover of GBP 103.7 million and a pre-tax revenue of GBP 6.1 million.[14] In December 2024, it was introduced that “ABBA Voyage” had bought 3 million tickets since its premiere and generated a gross worth added of GBP 775 million for the London economic system in its first two years.[15] Subsequently, it’s not shocking that these accountable sought a approach to make sure that “ABBA Voyage” would keep in London past April 2026, when the sector’s allow expires and it is because of make approach for a residential development mission.[16] The live performance corridor resembles a UFO and could be utterly dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere as a result of it was at all times meant for a global tour as a part of the “ABBA Voyage” mission.[17]
ABBA-tare as Position Fashions for Different Music Avatars: Avicii and KISS
Nevertheless, “ABBA Voyage” may quickly be increasing. Pophouse Leisure, the occasion and music rights firm co-founded by Björn Ulvaeus in 2014 and an investor in “ABBA Voyage”, has been shopping for up music catalogues from quite a few artists since 2022. For instance, in March 2022, Pophouse introduced that it had bought the grasp and publishing rights of the Swedish EDM group Swedish Home Mafia.[18] Nevertheless, Pophouse prompted a stir on the finish of September 2022 when it acquired 75 per cent of the grasp and publishing rights of the Swedish DJ Avicii, who died younger, from his heirs, the Bergling household.[19] It appeared probably that Avicii may very well be “resurrected” as a digital musician sooner or later. This assumption was confirmed in April 2024 when Pophouse acquired not solely the tune catalogue and related artist royalties of the glam rock band KISS, but additionally their NIL rights (title, picture, likeness), together with the rights to their distinctive face paint, for US $300 million. Per Sundin, now CEO of Pophouse and former head of Common Sweden, defined: “Our partnership will fuse the wealthy historical past and iconic standing of KISS with cutting-edge know-how, permitting followers – now and sooner or later – to expertise the band like by no means earlier than.”[20] This additionally contains the creation of avatars of the musicians modelled on the ABBA-tare, which may then go on tour as a digital band, as evidenced by an settlement that KISS concluded 4 months earlier than the rights take care of Pophouse.[21] KISS already has expertise with performances by their avatars. On the finish of their live performance at Madison Sq. Backyard in New York Metropolis, the enduring American band had their avatars carry out “God Gave Rock And Roll To You” as an encore, as evidenced by a promotional clip on YouTube.[22] We’re subsequently at first of a improvement whereby dwelling and deceased artists will take to the live performance stage within the type of AI-generated avatars. This may have vital financial implications. Avatars of superstars may carry out elsewhere on the similar time, relieving their human position fashions of the necessity to go on tour. This may additional focus the reside music market, which is already dominated by the famous person impact, making it tougher for youthful musicians to construct a profession. Moreover, music rights, significantly persona rights (NIL rights), will proceed to extend in worth as they’re
Endnotes
[1] Wikipedia, “Mamma Mia! (movie)”, model of August 22, 2025, accessed: 2025-08-22.
[2] Wikipedia, “Mamma Mia! (musical)”, model of August 24, 2025, accessed: 2025-08-22.
[3] Cited in The Guardian, “Abba reunion: Don’t maintain your breath”, July 7, 2008, accessed: 2025-08-26.
[4] Enterprise Insider, “Why ABBA Turned Down $1 Billion To Reunite In 2000”, July 9, 2014, accessed: 2025-08-26.
[5] Billboard, “‘Digital’ ABBA Coming Quickly By way of Partnership with Simon Fuller and Common Music”, October 26, 2016, accessed: 2025-08-26.
[6] BBC Information, “Abba announce first new music since 1982”, April 27, 2018, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[7] Esquire, “Tremendous Trouper”, July 21, 2022, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[8] An in depth description of the technical implementation of the digital ABBA mission could be discovered within the journal Ingenia, “How ABBA Voyage was made”, September 2022, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[9] Ibid.
[10] NME, “ABBA Voyage’s creators inform us how they made the present, and what’s subsequent”, Could 28, 2022, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[11] Ingenia, “How ABBA Voyage was made”, September 2022, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[12] The Guardian, “Abba Voyage assessment: jaw-dropping avatar act that’s destined to be copied”, Could 26, 2022, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[13] Musically, “Bloomberg breaks down numbers behind ABBA Voyage’s success”, September 5, 2023, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[14] Music Enterprise Worldwide, “ABBA Voyage generated $129m in 2023, as digital live performance collection attracts 1.1m guests”, October 1, 2024, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[15] ITV Information, “Abba Voyage to promote its 3,000,000th ticket this month after London present introduced £1.4bn economic system enhance”, December 9, 2024, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[16] Metro, “May Abba Voyage be leaving London for good?”, April 2, 2024, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[17] Ingenia, “How ABBA Voyage was made”, September 2022, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[18] Music Enterprise Worldwide, “Swedish Home Mafia promote grasp recordings and publishing catalogs to Pophouse”, March 29, 2022, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[19] Music Enterprise Worldwide, “Pophouse Leisure buys 75% of Avicii grasp recordings and publishing”, September 28, 2022, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[20] Music Enterprise Worldwide, “KISS sells tune catalog, title and IP to Pophouse, firm behind ABBA Voyage, in $300m deal”, April 4, 2024, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[21] Music Enterprise Worldwide, “KISS to stage avatar present in partnership with Pophouse Leisure, following the success of ABBA Voyage in London”, December 4, 2023, accessed: 2025-08-27.
[22] YouTube, “KISS – A New Period Begins”, December 3, 2023, accessed: 2025-08-27.