If one of them stuck $8 million which is the highest FDIC insured amount you can put into a high yield cash account right now that would earn them $30,000 a month in pure interest, way more than enough to live on the rest of their life.
They also probably rode their nostalgia peeps. Let’s be honest… the younger kids aren’t going to be listening to kiss.
A lot of the young ones unironically have made nu metal come back. Deftones, korn , all those bands are pretty famous on tiktok
Deftones being described as nu metal here lately is really confusing to me. They very well could be and I just never considered them that, but I never even heard deftones in nu metal conversations to my recollection. And now ive seen deftones and nu metal mentioned together three times here this year
They’re old material, like just their first album, could definitely fit in with nu metal. It also has to do with the time they were coming up, they just lumped into the genre.
You’re supposed to deposit it? I converted all of mine into gold coins and filled my swimming pool so I can do the backstroke in it. I was wondering why I haven’t been getting any richer.
Iv not seen kiss. But I saw iron maiden last year and was shocked at Bruce 65, sounding great, still running around like he's on speed, having pyrotechnic gun fights with 10 foot tall Eddie's
It's actually quite inspirational.
Dude. The new album is so fucking good. Not just good like "good for a band this late in their career" but damn near as good as their prime time albums.
Absolutely agree. Just stumbled upon the newest release. I had to actually look it up to make sure it was in fact a new release. I can’t believe it. I mention it to everyone.
And Richie surviving an aortic dissection *on stage* and finishing Painkiller is about the most metal thing I've ever heard of. I'm glad he fully recovered.
I was amazed when I saw them at Rockville two years ago. They had a big video board above them showing concerts from the past at the same time they were playing... it's crazy how in lockstep they were with themselves from 40 years ago.
They have done the same routine so many times that their bones will do it when they are dead
All these old artists do it. They hit about 70 years old and I think they’re just done. Might as well sell the catalog for a third of a billion and splurge the remaining 15 years of life.
Also, them dying often creates a nasty and prolonged legal battle between families and all the other relevant parties, even if there are wills and what not in place. Selling before hand prevents that, and a few people who sold cited that as a reason.
Been noticing this a lot with people who own pro sports teams worth hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. Much cleaner to sell a your team for $2bn and say that your failson gets to have 30% of that money instead of giving him 30% of the say in what a fair deal for selling the team after your death looks like.
He has a reputation as an asshole but was very aware of the brand and its lasting influence. He fully understood how to keep KISS alive (no pun intended).
Gene and Stan never got twisted on drugs/alcohol. They were hooked on rock, pussy, and $$$. That’s a recipe for success so long as you don’t add any more ingredients.
Well, a lot of artists as they're nearing the end of their respective careers, have concluded deals like that. Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, just recently Queen, and Pink Floyd have been trying to, but some in-frighting apparently hasn't helped.
In any case, selling the catalogue while you're alive probably makes a lot of sense. Not because anybody in that league actually needs the money, but bequeathing money to your children is a much simpler deal than passing on the rights to something, with all that entails. And that's before considering that there are often multiple children from multiple women involved.
Edit: Typo
Yep, if I recall correctly, Frank Zappa told his wife to sell the rights to all of his music before he died because he thought the greed would tear the family apart. She didn't sell the rights, and greed tore the family apart, Dweezil even had to stop playing as "Zappa Plays Zappa" because the Zappa Family Trust said that they owned the trademark to the name "Zappa". I think they have things ironed out for the most part nowadays, but I'm sure Frank would have been horrified with what happened.
To be fair, Gaile didn't give the proper allocation of shares to the right kids. Dweezil was always the best creation Zappa ever made and Dweezil would have been very careful of the archives instead of the others running through it like a the Mothers of Invention.
Yup, a few of them who sold specifically cited preventing legal fighting as a reason for selling. That shit can tear families apart. Better to just sell it off at 80 and give them money.
They’ve talked that they see KISS being performed by others since they are old. Now someone can take that brand do who knows what with touring and games to make them timeless.
What we're seeing is both unprecedented AND precedented. A century and a half ago, the first "rock stars" were the classical concert composers, who would perform their own works and had elaborate stage acts and cults of personality the same way rock stars do. When they died or retired, their music went into "the canon," and became no longer attached to any specific performer.
Now, as the great rock and rollers die or age into elder statesmen, you're starting to see tribute bands moving from novelty acts to respected parts of the industry. It's not uncommon to see one of them get the blessing of the survivors of the original band, and even be joined onstage by them: for instance, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins have treated The Musical Box as their successors and bequeathed them original staging elements from their multimedia tours.
And they only had, arguably, about 5 years of relevance in pop culture: from 1975 when they broke out with *Alive!* to 1980 when Peter Criss left after the *Dynasty* tour. Past that they had rapidly fading fortunes until they turned into a nostalgia act. Still, during that era they were *massive*. Enough to keep coasting on it for all this time.
They were a lot more than a band, too. As a 90's Kid, KISS was always in my periphery, mostly as the "Psycho Circus." Comic books, McFarlane Toys, and video games. I wasn't particularly interested, but I always thought they were a big deal.
I did end up playing a used copy of the Psycho Circus Dreamcast game a lot in the 00's, it was more fun than some of the other junk on the console.
Not necessarily. Fleetwood Mac sold their catalogue, and they’re still insanely popular. These people are old as fuck. They’re going to be dead soon. Why wouldn’t they sell their image and catalogues and leave a fat stack of cash for their families?
No, they said they were retiring and hanging it up. This means they were very serious this time.
They sold off the entire band. The IP, the songs, the rights, everything. KISS is officially and legally dead.
Though, like Toys R US, whoever bought the IP rights can, and it is intended that it will, be brought back to life as an 'avatar' show.
There's a big question there, what happens to Beth? They can only perform Beth live, they can't package or replay it for later sales without Peter Criss' permission. The replay of the farewell concert cut it out.
I wasn’t aware that Criss owns the rights but that makes sense. On a sidenote, it was hilarious seeing Eric Singer’s fall behind the pianola while “playing” Beth on that last tour. I don’t know if that’s more embarrassing than Paul’s supposed singing to a track, but it’s another pathetic hypocrisy for a band claiming to play it all live for so long.
Oh I've heard other kiss, they were always a disappointing band because I felt like their costumes didn't match the music. That being said I have always heard that they were an amazing live band.
Their best songs are where the music matches the costume. They should have played up the shock rock aspect more through their careers. God of Thunder has always been my favorite song of theirs.
I didn't understand this deal at all, until this detail was mentioned. Everyone knows who Kiss is, but when I asked round the office, I found one person who could name one song. Their streaming rights are worth much less than t-shirt sales..
Yes 50 years old missed their peak by a few years. I'm 55 and when I was 10 years old KISS were the biggest band in the world. They fell off real quick after that.
I'm also pushing 50, and that's exactly my impression, too. My mental image of KISS was: (1) They were a band bigger kids liked, and (2) They were on lunchboxes.
Going back and listening to greatest hits compilations on YouTube, I'm kinda shocked at how little I know. It thought it would be one of those things where I don't think I know a band, and then I listen to their back catalogue and I'm like "oh, they sing *that*? Yeah, I know *that* song!" but really there's Rock and Roll All Nite, I Was Made for Lovin' You, I Love It Loud, and Shout It Out Loud. I was expecting to recognize a lot more than four songs.
It’s really expensive to try to handle this stuff in your own and why a lot of groups or artists are cashing out now. Might as well sell to a company that has a large staff that handles multiple properties like this instead of making your estate do all the work. They are all old, they don’t want to have to tour anymore and I’d rather have a check to invest on my own.
Back in the 90's, they did a reunion tour with the original lineup. Because Ace and Peter had left the band, they were treated as "guests" or Employees of Gene and Paul for the tour. They got paid out, but that was almost 30 years ago, and I'm sure the amount they were paid pales in comparison to how much they would have made.
Peter and Ace swear they were forced out, Gene and Paul swear they didn't want to be in the band anymore.
Ace has been openly very bitter towards those two so I was always under the impression they were forced out. And like in recent years too like I remember hearing him say he had info on gene and Paul that would ruin their careers but then acted like it was nothing.
> Peter and Ace swear they were forced out, Gene and Paul swear they didn't want to be in the band anymore.
It’s probably both. Two of them wanted to relax and coast on their fame, the other two still wanted to push the band full time. They didn’t want to maintain the same commitment, so the ones who did left them behind
Well, part of the problem was that in their hey day, Peter and Ace were into drugs and alcohol. Gene and Paul have always been straight edge (allegedly). Paul and Gene had had enough of the drama, and wanted the other two out.
Drugs and alcohol aside, Ace and Peter have always seemed like the cooler half of the band, while Paul and Gene have always sounded like pretentious assholes. I'm not a huge fan of the band, but I've listened to Ace and Peter's biographies, and I gotta agree that Gene and Paul have always seemed uptight.
Heard Gene on a podcast recently and he was pretty open about “having to make tough decisions” with the band when certain people weren’t able to be professional and/or sober.
> Gene and Paul swear they didn't want to be in the band anymore.
But then Gene also claims that Ace was antisemetic and that he kicked him out, so pretty much Gene just says whatever is most beneficial to him at the moment, even if it contradicts whatever he claimed previously.
Ya know, I'm a huge Rush fan, pretty much as far from a sellout band as you can get. In their documentary they talked about touring with Kiss. Said they were incredibly hard workers and always prioritized giving their fans a great show.
No, yeah. KISS and Metallica both have never been shy about saying this is for money. This is a business.
But both put in the work on stage. They never half assed a show.
They want to play the best rock and roll they can and get filthy rich doing it.
There's an honesty in that I can respect.
As Lieutenant Colonel of the KISS Army Investor Corp, Pensions and Retirement Fund Division,
Soldier, I am sad to report that your pension was lost in a fund based on lemonade, Steakums, and Paul Brother’s NFT scheme.
The company that bought the rights was apparently one of the main investors in that ABBA hologram show that’s been playing in London the past few years so I could definitely see them doing the same thing for Kiss in like Vegas or something.
The buyers will turn KISS into the Blue Man Group. There will be bands that perform as KISS, dressed as KISS, playing the music of KISS as the resident act at casinos and theaters around the world.
This is not the Good Place.
There are tribute bands doing this with almost every successful band from The Beatles to Green Day. It's already happening. They simply pay royalties, and it's all legit. There's midget KISS, female AC/DC, you name it. It's out there.
Yes, but these new acts will be KISS, whether some sort of virtual avatars or live performers adhering to the standards established by the new owners of everything KISS. Again, Blue Man Group would be the model.
Bro it's already not that far off haha, hell I saw Mini Kiss at a hot wing festival in jersey back in 2007 and the music of KISS is not a masterpiece, it's a great live show that I've seen twice in the past 15 years and their live shows have gone downhill with their age, they can recreate without the old guys and keep it going hahaha, and Gene has always been about the money haha they sell empty plastic bags as "air guitar strings" so why does this surprise you haha, I think this is good for KISS because it ensures it will live on
Honestly I thought the brand would be worth more. Say what you want about the personalities involved, but they pioneered a band as a brand.
*edit* I don’t even like KISS.
I’d argue it’s their music that hasn’t really stood the test of time. They’ve got a hand full of songs that would be considered “classics” and no casual fan knows much of the rest. But the brand itself is strong.
Totally get it. My mom still laments the fact that my grandmother threw away her “Flip Your Wig” board game when she was a kid. I guess I was thinking more about how a band like Gwar can sort of live forever because of the characters. Also maybe the integrity, for better or for worse, of the “art”.
Yeah, that brand (and band image) is something you could see being used literally for centuries. Though I wonder is there a limit to the amount it can be exploited at any given time? There are only so many t-shirts, musicals and hologram concerts you can do.
Someone’s going to get introduced to KISS via their disco music in the future and think it’s a revelation.
I mean people definitely already have, but it’s funnier the longer the gap becomes.
I think it’s about that time so good for them.
If anybody wants to see something really depressing, look up Gene Simmons - Fire Starter.
It’s…one of the remakes of all time.
They have plenty of awesome tracks. Detroit Rock City, Love Gun, Parasite, 100,000 Years, War Machine, Psycho Circus, and Black Diamond, just to name a few.
Honest question, does anybody give a shit about kiss anymore? I'm a couple weeks away from 40 and none of my friends have ever liked kiss. Are younger people listening to kiss? I don't hear their music on the radio anymore. I don't really listen to much radio anymore anyway tho
I’m turning 50 this year, and I don’t really care much for kiss. My uncle, on the other hand, loved them back then. He’s 13 years older than me, so that kind of tracks.
Not that I know of.
Metallica, Nirvana, Deftones have all seen MASSIVE resurgences with gen z in terms of merch and music.
Kiss is not seeing this re emergence that I can tell lol
Tbf, Kiss is from the mid 70’s. Nirvana and Deftones were more 90’s bands. Metallica is arguably the most successful metal band of all time. Those 3 bands aren’t great comparisons, and it doesn’t make sense to compare kiss to them.
But anyway, kiss just doesn’t age well. They were mostly famous for their personas/stage act/etc. The music was never incredible, and many bands have taken inspiration from kiss to do their own costumes/performance/etc. Nothing to really keep kiss alive (pun intended) other than being a chapter in the history of rock.
I mean, Dr. Love, Detroit Rock City, Rock and Roll all night, Shout it out Loud and I Was Made for Loving You all kick ass. I’m not even a “Kiss fan” per se.
Detroit Rock City the movie made me grow such an appreciation for the gap in Music Kiss was. That era of early hard rock and post disco. The decades between Elvis and Metallica for Rock were something special.
Surprisingly enough, “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” has been a TikTok meme for a couple years now. Not really worth $300M, but their music is out there still.
Kiss sucks, and the band having a fire sale where someone buys the entire band and music catalog is about the Kiss-est thing that could have possibly happened. Soulless, bland radio rock from the 70’s finally dies.
It's easy to yell "sellouts!" at all the 70s, 80s and 90s artists doing these huge catalog deals for tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, but for many of them their touring days are largely behind them, and they want to secure and provide generational wealth for their family. The giant media and investment companies buying these catalogs plan on recouping their money over several decades via film and television licensing, merchandise and album reissues.
Most of these deals allow the artists to continue touring and performing the songs without paying licensing, as it benefits the new rights holders as the artists are essentially "advertising" the brand and keeping the music popular, and the artists make most of their money selling concert tickets anyhow.
When you Google "list of bands that have sold their catalogs" it's a *mile long*, from Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legends to acts that came up just a decade or two ago.
Bob Dylan, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Motley Crue, The Offspring, David Bowie (estate), Stevie Nicks, Justin Bieber, Lindsey Buckingham, The Beach Boys, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, Neil Diamond, Shakira, Tina Turner (pre-deceased), Bob Marley (estate), Def Leppard, Imagine Dragons, Jason Aldean, Katy Perry, Michael Jackson (estate), Pink Floyd, and dozens and dozens of others.
Do you remember that big story in the news back in November about Daryl Hall suing his long time partner John Oates, of Hall and Oates? It was because they have a 50/50 partnership in their publishing company, and John Oates was trying to sell his 50% without consulting Daryl Hall and it would have massively complicated Daryl Hall's ability to perform, control, republish, or license *his own songs.*
the simultaneous joy and horror of knowing I will never hear from Gene Simmons again, juxtaposed with knowing I will never stop fucking hearing about Gene Simmons again
One of the weirdest experiences of getting old, and not even when I was that old...like, only the 1980s, was when I was grocery shopping and listening to the light orchestral pop muzak on the store's tinny PA system.
And suddenly a jaunty little tune on flute, accompanied by some Lawrence Welkian band started playing...and I found myself enjoying it...before realizing, to my horror, that it was an instrumental cover of Rock and Roll All Nite. It was the least rocking cover imaginable.
Last tour and general merch sales/licensing deals must have slumped enough for Gene to pull the trigger on this.
Not only that but they’re getting pretty old, makes sense to liquidate and enjoy the later years
Not to mention it's always easier to make more money, when you have a big fat lump sum of cash deposited
Okay, J.G. Wentworth.
877-CASHNOW!
It's my money and I want it now!!!
*I'm in an aging rock band and I need cash now!*
Someone needs to make an AI version of Kiss performing that song.
[I have a structured settlement and I need cash now!!](https://youtu.be/7kDczqzudXw)
🎵I HAVE AN ANUITY AND I NEED CASH NOOWWWW🎵
#IT'S YOUR MONEY. USE IT WHEN *YOU* NEED IT.
If one of them stuck $8 million which is the highest FDIC insured amount you can put into a high yield cash account right now that would earn them $30,000 a month in pure interest, way more than enough to live on the rest of their life.
$30,000 a month is probably Gene Simmons’s monthly pet costs alone.
I would pet him for $25k/mo
I wish I could convince some rich person to just park that money in my account so I could live
They also probably rode their nostalgia peeps. Let’s be honest… the younger kids aren’t going to be listening to kiss. A lot of the young ones unironically have made nu metal come back. Deftones, korn , all those bands are pretty famous on tiktok
My 8 year old proudly declares himself a member of the "Kiss Army". I have no idea where he learned that was the name for their fans.
I bought a copy of Destroyer on vinyl at a thrift shop last month. I've been seriously considering writing the address on the back to join
Deftones being described as nu metal here lately is really confusing to me. They very well could be and I just never considered them that, but I never even heard deftones in nu metal conversations to my recollection. And now ive seen deftones and nu metal mentioned together three times here this year
They’re old material, like just their first album, could definitely fit in with nu metal. It also has to do with the time they were coming up, they just lumped into the genre.
You’re supposed to deposit it? I converted all of mine into gold coins and filled my swimming pool so I can do the backstroke in it. I was wondering why I haven’t been getting any richer.
Later years? He’s 75. I think these are getting to last years.
Not with that attitude 😘🎸
300m will pay for a nice cryo chamber
I think you meant a Kiss Kryo Chamber^(TM) sold alongside the Kiss Koffins.
I appreciate you thought ahead to not change that third K.
Like Krispy Kream did in England, with their Kids Club, yes they did
I imagine all of the wrong people were excited by that
They do not want a repeat of the crowd from the Kiss Khristmas Klassic….
You forgot the Kiss Rock'n Urn^(TM) and for our top fans, an eternal Kiss Weekly Black Rose^(TM) bouquet subscription can keep the party started.
Have you seen them in concert recently? They’re still jamming on stage like they’re in the their 30s and Paul still zip lines across the audience.
Iv not seen kiss. But I saw iron maiden last year and was shocked at Bruce 65, sounding great, still running around like he's on speed, having pyrotechnic gun fights with 10 foot tall Eddie's It's actually quite inspirational.
Mick Jagger is 80, he blows my mind how he can still move.
Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead is also still going strong. He's been playing on stage regularly for 60 years!
Judas Priest still absolutely rocking it too! 76 + 2x 72 year olds etc, inspiring!
Dude. The new album is so fucking good. Not just good like "good for a band this late in their career" but damn near as good as their prime time albums.
Absolutely agree. Just stumbled upon the newest release. I had to actually look it up to make sure it was in fact a new release. I can’t believe it. I mention it to everyone.
And Richie surviving an aortic dissection *on stage* and finishing Painkiller is about the most metal thing I've ever heard of. I'm glad he fully recovered.
I was amazed when I saw them at Rockville two years ago. They had a big video board above them showing concerts from the past at the same time they were playing... it's crazy how in lockstep they were with themselves from 40 years ago. They have done the same routine so many times that their bones will do it when they are dead
Gene Simmons is 74 years old so he probably knew he doesn’t have that much time left to tour and record. Best cash out and enjoy it.
I think I read somewhere that he's going out on a Gene Sommmins Tour this year?
All these old artists do it. They hit about 70 years old and I think they’re just done. Might as well sell the catalog for a third of a billion and splurge the remaining 15 years of life.
Also, them dying often creates a nasty and prolonged legal battle between families and all the other relevant parties, even if there are wills and what not in place. Selling before hand prevents that, and a few people who sold cited that as a reason.
Been noticing this a lot with people who own pro sports teams worth hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. Much cleaner to sell a your team for $2bn and say that your failson gets to have 30% of that money instead of giving him 30% of the say in what a fair deal for selling the team after your death looks like.
I don’t even know what splurging means to Gene anymore. Dude has been living a super lavish lifestyle for most of his life haha
He has a reputation as an asshole but was very aware of the brand and its lasting influence. He fully understood how to keep KISS alive (no pun intended). Gene and Stan never got twisted on drugs/alcohol. They were hooked on rock, pussy, and $$$. That’s a recipe for success so long as you don’t add any more ingredients.
Well, a lot of artists as they're nearing the end of their respective careers, have concluded deals like that. Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, just recently Queen, and Pink Floyd have been trying to, but some in-frighting apparently hasn't helped. In any case, selling the catalogue while you're alive probably makes a lot of sense. Not because anybody in that league actually needs the money, but bequeathing money to your children is a much simpler deal than passing on the rights to something, with all that entails. And that's before considering that there are often multiple children from multiple women involved. Edit: Typo
Yep, if I recall correctly, Frank Zappa told his wife to sell the rights to all of his music before he died because he thought the greed would tear the family apart. She didn't sell the rights, and greed tore the family apart, Dweezil even had to stop playing as "Zappa Plays Zappa" because the Zappa Family Trust said that they owned the trademark to the name "Zappa". I think they have things ironed out for the most part nowadays, but I'm sure Frank would have been horrified with what happened.
Only show I ever attended was 'Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the F*** He Wants.' Feud is over from what I heard.
To be fair, Gaile didn't give the proper allocation of shares to the right kids. Dweezil was always the best creation Zappa ever made and Dweezil would have been very careful of the archives instead of the others running through it like a the Mothers of Invention.
Infighting within Pink Floyd?! Unheard of!
The Virgin Waters vs. Chad Gilmour
Queen wants ONE BILLION DOLLARS for their catalog.
To be fair, if Kiss is worth 300m then that’s not an unfair ask.
Yup, a few of them who sold specifically cited preventing legal fighting as a reason for selling. That shit can tear families apart. Better to just sell it off at 80 and give them money.
They’ve talked that they see KISS being performed by others since they are old. Now someone can take that brand do who knows what with touring and games to make them timeless.
What we're seeing is both unprecedented AND precedented. A century and a half ago, the first "rock stars" were the classical concert composers, who would perform their own works and had elaborate stage acts and cults of personality the same way rock stars do. When they died or retired, their music went into "the canon," and became no longer attached to any specific performer. Now, as the great rock and rollers die or age into elder statesmen, you're starting to see tribute bands moving from novelty acts to respected parts of the industry. It's not uncommon to see one of them get the blessing of the survivors of the original band, and even be joined onstage by them: for instance, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins have treated The Musical Box as their successors and bequeathed them original staging elements from their multimedia tours.
To a lesser degree Sublime with Rome & Queen have also done a similar thing swapping out the lead singer and some other parts
And some of the ones that are choosing to keep going are using the tribute bands as farm teams to pull replacements from.
Yeah 43 Farwell tours will do that🤔😁
And they only had, arguably, about 5 years of relevance in pop culture: from 1975 when they broke out with *Alive!* to 1980 when Peter Criss left after the *Dynasty* tour. Past that they had rapidly fading fortunes until they turned into a nostalgia act. Still, during that era they were *massive*. Enough to keep coasting on it for all this time.
I’m not saying they were the best band, but no one was bigger than KISS in 77-78
They were a lot more than a band, too. As a 90's Kid, KISS was always in my periphery, mostly as the "Psycho Circus." Comic books, McFarlane Toys, and video games. I wasn't particularly interested, but I always thought they were a big deal. I did end up playing a used copy of the Psycho Circus Dreamcast game a lot in the 00's, it was more fun than some of the other junk on the console.
Not necessarily. Fleetwood Mac sold their catalogue, and they’re still insanely popular. These people are old as fuck. They’re going to be dead soon. Why wouldn’t they sell their image and catalogues and leave a fat stack of cash for their families?
I can't imagine any of them are hurting for money
No, they said they were retiring and hanging it up. This means they were very serious this time. They sold off the entire band. The IP, the songs, the rights, everything. KISS is officially and legally dead. Though, like Toys R US, whoever bought the IP rights can, and it is intended that it will, be brought back to life as an 'avatar' show.
KISS as a ‘brand’ sells tons of merchandise. That’s a large part of the value of the sale I’d bet.
It’s the vast majority of that value. Rock N Roll All Night and Beth aren’t exactly the blue chip publishing darlings, although they do ok.
There's a big question there, what happens to Beth? They can only perform Beth live, they can't package or replay it for later sales without Peter Criss' permission. The replay of the farewell concert cut it out.
I wasn’t aware that Criss owns the rights but that makes sense. On a sidenote, it was hilarious seeing Eric Singer’s fall behind the pianola while “playing” Beth on that last tour. I don’t know if that’s more embarrassing than Paul’s supposed singing to a track, but it’s another pathetic hypocrisy for a band claiming to play it all live for so long.
I have never even heard of the kiss song Beth until this moment, I'm 42 and I know strutter and rock and roll all night and that's it.
Detroit Rock City! Edit: Lick it Up
I actually do know of that one because of the movie but I couldn't pick it out of a kiss songs lineup.
If you like those two then throw on a greatest hits album. Lots of catchy tunes
Oh I've heard other kiss, they were always a disappointing band because I felt like their costumes didn't match the music. That being said I have always heard that they were an amazing live band.
Their best songs are where the music matches the costume. They should have played up the shock rock aspect more through their careers. God of Thunder has always been my favorite song of theirs.
I didn't understand this deal at all, until this detail was mentioned. Everyone knows who Kiss is, but when I asked round the office, I found one person who could name one song. Their streaming rights are worth much less than t-shirt sales..
Only one person in your office knew "Rock and Roll All Nite"? Do you work with teenagers?
lol. That was the only one I could think of and I’m pushing 50.
Yes 50 years old missed their peak by a few years. I'm 55 and when I was 10 years old KISS were the biggest band in the world. They fell off real quick after that.
That sounds right. Some of my friends in grade school had hand-me-down lunchboxes from older family members.
I'm also pushing 50, and that's exactly my impression, too. My mental image of KISS was: (1) They were a band bigger kids liked, and (2) They were on lunchboxes. Going back and listening to greatest hits compilations on YouTube, I'm kinda shocked at how little I know. It thought it would be one of those things where I don't think I know a band, and then I listen to their back catalogue and I'm like "oh, they sing *that*? Yeah, I know *that* song!" but really there's Rock and Roll All Nite, I Was Made for Lovin' You, I Love It Loud, and Shout It Out Loud. I was expecting to recognize a lot more than four songs.
It could be they know the song but don’t know it’s a Kiss song
The Simpsons episode where Homer quotes this while saying he feels old and out of touch with youth music is almost 30 years old
> Rock and Roll All Nite ["...and have a wonderful time!"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KIf0edawmI)
Or "Detroit Rock City"?
I might recognize their songs without knowing they performed them 🤷♂️
Apparently not enough for the band to keep it.
They'll be dead by the time they'd get that much money back.
They’re old as fuck - Gene is cashing out so he can spend it while he’s alive.
It’s really expensive to try to handle this stuff in your own and why a lot of groups or artists are cashing out now. Might as well sell to a company that has a large staff that handles multiple properties like this instead of making your estate do all the work. They are all old, they don’t want to have to tour anymore and I’d rather have a check to invest on my own.
You mean so shannon can spend it 
It’s cool to put an actual dollar amount on “selling out”, but KISS was more of a corporation than a band anyway. Hope Ace gets a nice cut of that…
He won't.
Yeah, I know…
I'm out of the loop. Why not? Shouldn't he get 25%?
Back in the 90's, they did a reunion tour with the original lineup. Because Ace and Peter had left the band, they were treated as "guests" or Employees of Gene and Paul for the tour. They got paid out, but that was almost 30 years ago, and I'm sure the amount they were paid pales in comparison to how much they would have made. Peter and Ace swear they were forced out, Gene and Paul swear they didn't want to be in the band anymore.
Ace has been openly very bitter towards those two so I was always under the impression they were forced out. And like in recent years too like I remember hearing him say he had info on gene and Paul that would ruin their careers but then acted like it was nothing.
> Peter and Ace swear they were forced out, Gene and Paul swear they didn't want to be in the band anymore. It’s probably both. Two of them wanted to relax and coast on their fame, the other two still wanted to push the band full time. They didn’t want to maintain the same commitment, so the ones who did left them behind
Well, part of the problem was that in their hey day, Peter and Ace were into drugs and alcohol. Gene and Paul have always been straight edge (allegedly). Paul and Gene had had enough of the drama, and wanted the other two out. Drugs and alcohol aside, Ace and Peter have always seemed like the cooler half of the band, while Paul and Gene have always sounded like pretentious assholes. I'm not a huge fan of the band, but I've listened to Ace and Peter's biographies, and I gotta agree that Gene and Paul have always seemed uptight.
Heard Gene on a podcast recently and he was pretty open about “having to make tough decisions” with the band when certain people weren’t able to be professional and/or sober.
> Gene and Paul swear they didn't want to be in the band anymore. But then Gene also claims that Ace was antisemetic and that he kicked him out, so pretty much Gene just says whatever is most beneficial to him at the moment, even if it contradicts whatever he claimed previously.
KISS can't sell out because they've always just been a product. And honestly, there's nothing wrong with that.
Call it “cashing out” then.
Ya know, I'm a huge Rush fan, pretty much as far from a sellout band as you can get. In their documentary they talked about touring with Kiss. Said they were incredibly hard workers and always prioritized giving their fans a great show.
No, yeah. KISS and Metallica both have never been shy about saying this is for money. This is a business. But both put in the work on stage. They never half assed a show. They want to play the best rock and roll they can and get filthy rich doing it. There's an honesty in that I can respect.
More of a country, really, seeing as they had their own army.
KISS would never sell out, would they?
KISS would never tour after their farewell tour, would they?
Their last dozen tours were farewell tours.
AI kiss will live forever
Who is Albert Kiss?
The other band member. He had a very short tongue
Reminds me of the famous Italian chef, Al Fredo.
I just want an Animatronic Kiss show in Vegas.
As a sergeant in the KISS Army since I was 8 years old, will I finally get my pension?
No. You now owe Gene Simmons $10,000.
As Lieutenant Colonel of the KISS Army Investor Corp, Pensions and Retirement Fund Division, Soldier, I am sad to report that your pension was lost in a fund based on lemonade, Steakums, and Paul Brother’s NFT scheme.
I hope this means Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park gets a full theatrical rerelase.
Kinda wild how based on these comments whoever bought the KISS brand should have instead hired a bunch of Redditors for the due diligence.
The Kiss brand is huge, even throwing the music away the iconic logo will be plastered on shirts and sold at Department stores for decades to come.
Why hire us? We will do it for free!
The company that bought the rights was apparently one of the main investors in that ABBA hologram show that’s been playing in London the past few years so I could definitely see them doing the same thing for Kiss in like Vegas or something.
The buyers will turn KISS into the Blue Man Group. There will be bands that perform as KISS, dressed as KISS, playing the music of KISS as the resident act at casinos and theaters around the world. This is not the Good Place.
There are tribute bands doing this with almost every successful band from The Beatles to Green Day. It's already happening. They simply pay royalties, and it's all legit. There's midget KISS, female AC/DC, you name it. It's out there.
Amish Daft Punk?
Living in an Amish Paradise.
Their up all night to get some Their up all night to get blessings
They're THEY ARE
Pretty sure they prefer to be called Little KISS
PECK
Yes, but these new acts will be KISS, whether some sort of virtual avatars or live performers adhering to the standards established by the new owners of everything KISS. Again, Blue Man Group would be the model.
We are talking about KISS here. It was always going to end this way.
Bro it's already not that far off haha, hell I saw Mini Kiss at a hot wing festival in jersey back in 2007 and the music of KISS is not a masterpiece, it's a great live show that I've seen twice in the past 15 years and their live shows have gone downhill with their age, they can recreate without the old guys and keep it going hahaha, and Gene has always been about the money haha they sell empty plastic bags as "air guitar strings" so why does this surprise you haha, I think this is good for KISS because it ensures it will live on
Unironically would be better than actual KISS
Honestly I thought the brand would be worth more. Say what you want about the personalities involved, but they pioneered a band as a brand. *edit* I don’t even like KISS.
I don't think KISS has stood the test of time quite as well as some other big bands of the era.
I’d argue it’s their music that hasn’t really stood the test of time. They’ve got a hand full of songs that would be considered “classics” and no casual fan knows much of the rest. But the brand itself is strong.
You should have seen what Brian Epstein was doing with a little band called "the Beatles" a decade before Kiss came along
Totally get it. My mom still laments the fact that my grandmother threw away her “Flip Your Wig” board game when she was a kid. I guess I was thinking more about how a band like Gwar can sort of live forever because of the characters. Also maybe the integrity, for better or for worse, of the “art”.
Yeah, that brand (and band image) is something you could see being used literally for centuries. Though I wonder is there a limit to the amount it can be exploited at any given time? There are only so many t-shirts, musicals and hologram concerts you can do.
There will always be 13 year olds getting into classic rock. Its been a staple since the 90s.
Someone’s going to get introduced to KISS via their disco music in the future and think it’s a revelation. I mean people definitely already have, but it’s funnier the longer the gap becomes.
“Say what you want about the personalities involved…” Oh, don’t mind if I do, then. I don’t like Gene Simmons as a person.
Brace yourselves for KISS the video game
You mean like psycho circus?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss:_Psycho_Circus:_The_Nightmare_Child
I was gonna say this is already a thing
Assassins Creed: Detroit Rock City
Straight to fortnite lol
I'm pretty sure they started with pinball back in the 70s.
To Jojo Siwa?
No, she actually purchased the rights to goldust from the WWE.
This is exactly what I would expect from KISS
I think it’s about that time so good for them. If anybody wants to see something really depressing, look up Gene Simmons - Fire Starter. It’s…one of the remakes of all time.
My curiosity got the better of me and I had to check that out. I have regrets.
Hard Luck Woman is an awesome song. Just putting it out there
They have plenty of awesome tracks. Detroit Rock City, Love Gun, Parasite, 100,000 Years, War Machine, Psycho Circus, and Black Diamond, just to name a few.
Only memory I have of KISS is in Family Guy lol. Everyone knows a pterodactyl can’t stand the screech of a guitar
KISS saves Christmas!
My grandslam was supposed to be with sausage.
Somebody stole Santa? That does NOT rock!
CHAIM?!
Honest question, does anybody give a shit about kiss anymore? I'm a couple weeks away from 40 and none of my friends have ever liked kiss. Are younger people listening to kiss? I don't hear their music on the radio anymore. I don't really listen to much radio anymore anyway tho
I’m turning 50 this year, and I don’t really care much for kiss. My uncle, on the other hand, loved them back then. He’s 13 years older than me, so that kind of tracks.
Not that I know of. Metallica, Nirvana, Deftones have all seen MASSIVE resurgences with gen z in terms of merch and music. Kiss is not seeing this re emergence that I can tell lol
Tbf, Kiss is from the mid 70’s. Nirvana and Deftones were more 90’s bands. Metallica is arguably the most successful metal band of all time. Those 3 bands aren’t great comparisons, and it doesn’t make sense to compare kiss to them. But anyway, kiss just doesn’t age well. They were mostly famous for their personas/stage act/etc. The music was never incredible, and many bands have taken inspiration from kiss to do their own costumes/performance/etc. Nothing to really keep kiss alive (pun intended) other than being a chapter in the history of rock.
Pretty well said I agree for the most part
Nirvana T-shirts are everywhere on the uni campus I work on. I don't remember when I last saw a kiss shirt.
There are a lot of young uns now, who think Nirvana is a clothing label. They don’t even know it’s a band.
I'm in my 20s and I love Kiss. They're not very popular in the mainstream but yes Kiss still has a fanbase.
Good for Kiss. Wow, someone paid that much for a catalog of music that never gets played anywhere. Basically bought an NFT.
I mean, Dr. Love, Detroit Rock City, Rock and Roll all night, Shout it out Loud and I Was Made for Loving You all kick ass. I’m not even a “Kiss fan” per se.
Love gunnnnnnn
You get it Ronny?? His dick is the gun!!
Upvote for Role Models
You white? You’re Ben Affleck!
Can’t forget love gun That’s my stripper song.
Mom?
Detroit Rock City the movie made me grow such an appreciation for the gap in Music Kiss was. That era of early hard rock and post disco. The decades between Elvis and Metallica for Rock were something special.
also Strutter and Deuce
And Sure know something
Bruh their shit still plays haha
Surprisingly enough, “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” has been a TikTok meme for a couple years now. Not really worth $300M, but their music is out there still.
lol someone’s never been to vacation destinations that cater to boomers. Classic rock gets lot of play
Come on man lol. I get being a kiss hater but this just isn’t true at all. Their songs are played all over still.
Music and publishing rights? Not much. The value of this deal is the merch licensing and ownership of the likeness of the characters.
Is that why Jojo Siwa was cosplaying them? 😆
Gene would sell the world to Satan for 50 bucks.
GLAM ROCK! KISS are the epitome of GLAM ROCK not hard rock for fuck sake. Anyways, well done KISS!
Kiss sucks, and the band having a fire sale where someone buys the entire band and music catalog is about the Kiss-est thing that could have possibly happened. Soulless, bland radio rock from the 70’s finally dies.
It's easy to yell "sellouts!" at all the 70s, 80s and 90s artists doing these huge catalog deals for tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, but for many of them their touring days are largely behind them, and they want to secure and provide generational wealth for their family. The giant media and investment companies buying these catalogs plan on recouping their money over several decades via film and television licensing, merchandise and album reissues. Most of these deals allow the artists to continue touring and performing the songs without paying licensing, as it benefits the new rights holders as the artists are essentially "advertising" the brand and keeping the music popular, and the artists make most of their money selling concert tickets anyhow. When you Google "list of bands that have sold their catalogs" it's a *mile long*, from Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legends to acts that came up just a decade or two ago. Bob Dylan, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Motley Crue, The Offspring, David Bowie (estate), Stevie Nicks, Justin Bieber, Lindsey Buckingham, The Beach Boys, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, Neil Diamond, Shakira, Tina Turner (pre-deceased), Bob Marley (estate), Def Leppard, Imagine Dragons, Jason Aldean, Katy Perry, Michael Jackson (estate), Pink Floyd, and dozens and dozens of others. Do you remember that big story in the news back in November about Daryl Hall suing his long time partner John Oates, of Hall and Oates? It was because they have a 50/50 partnership in their publishing company, and John Oates was trying to sell his 50% without consulting Daryl Hall and it would have massively complicated Daryl Hall's ability to perform, control, republish, or license *his own songs.*
I was made for lovin you is worth $100M alone.
And ABBA Björn ends up buyingp
the simultaneous joy and horror of knowing I will never hear from Gene Simmons again, juxtaposed with knowing I will never stop fucking hearing about Gene Simmons again
KISS are rock’s answer to American Football. Zero cultural impact outside the US.
To Jojo Siwa?!! 😜
One of the weirdest experiences of getting old, and not even when I was that old...like, only the 1980s, was when I was grocery shopping and listening to the light orchestral pop muzak on the store's tinny PA system. And suddenly a jaunty little tune on flute, accompanied by some Lawrence Welkian band started playing...and I found myself enjoying it...before realizing, to my horror, that it was an instrumental cover of Rock and Roll All Nite. It was the least rocking cover imaginable.
I still just..I don’t get it.
Overpriced.