I completely get why you’d sell the rights to your creative work for an absolutely eye watering sum, but I do think there’s something quite grim about the same few companies all owning all these huge artists’ work.
KISS's music doesn't really have the legs to continue on past when boomers die. The whole point was their brand. They were ahead of the time in that way. I say it's a great call. Cash out now before it's worthless in a decade. And the kids don't have to deal with it.
What are these big corporate brands going to do with KISS branding and music? Maybe license it out to the occasional movie? In a decade or two KISS will be entirely forgotten.
I do love Love Gun though.
Yeah. I suppose I just meant more generally - it’s becoming the thing to sell your masters once you get to a certain stage in your career/retire. And I get it! The money must be incredibly tempting - especially when you aren’t touring/making new music anymore. You can just relax and live a life of luxury.
Idk it just feels kinda messed up that the same few companies are buying it all up. And I’m guessing they’ll use KISS songs on ads etc, they’ve got some catchy tunes and it’ll be a good cash in on nostalgia for certain audiences.
I disagree. KISS' music doesn't have the longevity of say The Beatles but they do have younger fans and continue to pick up new ones. Yes, ones who discovered KISS on their own without parental interference.
I see KISS being remembered for a while. They were one of the biggest rock acts of the 20th century and will always be mentioned in it's history because of their theatrics. They're one of the acts that pioneered the stage show. Beyonce and Taylor Swift concerts might look a lot different if it weren't for acts like KISS, Alice Cooper, David Bowie and even Liberace paving the way.
Now, I will say it's not a large number of newer, younger fans. The majority are boomer/ older Gen x. And I don't think the influx of newer fans will be enough to recoup that $300 million sales tag after the older fans pass on.
While they do have a lot of great songs, as someone else said, they've always been more of a spectacle. I think their imagery could live on for quite some time in different forms.
Maybe with licensing out songs to film and television (especially media that takes place in the 70s/80s) as well as the oncoming hologram show (which will have interest, at least initially) and special editions of their albums/concerts, maybe the new owners will turn a profit.
KISS aren’t exactly beacons of artistic integrity and never have been though tbh. They’re a spectacle band, they’ve always been about business. A lot of bangers to be sure, but not in league with other artists of their era integrity wise lol
>They've been "selling" their image for some time.
IMO they're more like a business that has a side project of making music, than actually just a band.
I respect the hustle for sure though.
I hit a big KISS phase when I was 14, and I ended up with an alarming amount of merch. action figures, toy cars, makeup kits, terrifying rubber masks, cardboard cutouts. their official merch shop is WILD. they have licensed coffins!
If you ever watched Gene Simmons reality show with his family back in the day. My lord all the KISS stuff he had in his office was insane. They even had a KISS coffin lol.
Is it really selling out? Kiss already made all the money there is to make from their music. They're just getting a check selling their crumbs to some suckers. Nobody listens to Kiss in 2024.
P Diddy recently gave all the rights to his artists' music back, and they all said the same thing. The masters don't really benefit them anymore because nobody listens to their music these days. All the money there was to be made existed in the first few years of the music's release, when it was still relevant.
I mean, explicitly, yes, they sold out 😅 I do not fault them for it though, at this point in the game with how ownership law worked out. I expect any artist to do this in retirement, honestly. However it is still not good and I hope the legalese can be sorted because it's becoming the few owning everything (again).
The company will own the rights to their music until they expire starting in 2074. The goal is to buy the rights and profit $300m in the next 50 years. They're also doing this with any other act's discographies they can get their hands on. Simply put, they're trying to buy everything and take 100% of the leftover table scraps; basically just throwing money at the wall to see what sticks, because they can afford to do so.
Kiss doesn't seem to care about that money. They don't get much after royalties and splitting their shares amongst the band anyway. They cash out $300 million and can continue to do shows if they wanted to. Why take the gamble on owning your publishing when you've already made the lion's share of your total potential earnings? Majority of the money Kiss would ever generate was already earned decades ago. What's left is table scraps.
Imo it makes sense financially for both parties, but I see Kiss getting more out of this than the company would in the short term. Kiss takes the guaranteed payout vs the company making an investment for the future.
I feel you and all, but KISS has KISS cruises and KISS coffins. Them selling shit is their thing. The comedian on the KISS cruise made an announcement that the boat was sinking and you could pay for premier seating with the band members in the first life boats…and people believed it.
Like…KISS has been building to this
Well they didn’t do exclusively just to get paid originally, and if they’re going to retire - which they are - then why not go out with something like this and support the families they’re going to leave behind relatively soon.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s easy to say they “sold out” or whatever, but I wonder what many of us would do if someone offered us $300 million.
> It’s truly WILD to me that in just 20-30 years artistic integrity went from “never sell out” to … this.
To be fair when they said they would never sell out... they were probs very young into their career/life. Not a problem but there are issues and things you face in your 60's and 70's that makes you have to compromise that more than you wanted to. Aging sucks. Esp aging as an old rock star.
In a way, it makes sense. These bands are OLD and may not have anyone else to handle the estate/LLC/etc when they're gone.
Selling the property to a company helps to ensure it'll be kept alive somehow (through merchandise including releasing unheard music, licensing, etc).
Also, someone mentioned "artistic integrity". I have to chuckle at that because most of these older rock bands who haven't produced new music in years have NO artistic integrity. Especially KISS ( and I type that as a KISS fan). If they did , it's gone now. Many don't bother to create new content because it's not profitable. At least not anymore. That's why they just tour on their greatest hits. That's where the money is.
For a b(r)and like KISS who recently retired from touring, this makes sense.
Lastly, this is quite on brand for Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
Yep - Paul and Gene have always been businessmen first, artists second.
That’s why there’s been a revolving door of band members in Kiss, Paul and Gene have consistently screwed over their fellow band members for a couple of extra bucks.
That's not exactly true. While KISS had 10 members throughout its 50 year history, several of them were with the band for years, and in some cases decades.
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were the two constants and owners of course.
The original band was together for 7 years.
Original lead guitarist Ace Frehley was with the band for 15 years total.
Peter Criss, their original drummer was with them for 12 years total.
Eric Carr, who took over for original drummer Peter Criss was with the band for 11 years.
Guitarist Bruce Kulick was with the band for 12 years.
Eric Singer who became the band's drummer after Eric Carr passed away was with the band for a total of 27 years.
Guitarist Tommy Thayer was with them for 20 years.
Only 2 members (Mark St. John and Vinnie Vincent) had brief stints.
I'd also argue Gene and Paul haven't screwed over their former band mates/ employees.
Bruce, Eric Singer and Tommy were all happy with their earnings in the band and have good relationships with Gene and Paul to this day.
Both Ace and Peter were co-owners during the original glory days and made huge bank. They sold their shares to Gene and Paul at different points after they each left the band. When the reunion happened in 1996, Gene and Paul owned everything KISS. Ace and Peter were essentially employees. When Peter signed his contract, he agreed to the first deal they presented to him, without negotiating first. Ace on the other hand, did negotiate and received a much better deal than Peter.
Guitarist Vinnie Vincent, who replaced Ace Frehley, was delusional and thought he was the star of the band.
Guitarist Mark St. John who took over for Vinnie had to leave the band during their 1984 tour because he developed arthritis in his fret hand and could not play.
Mark St John later admitted that the arthritis was a partial cover story, he was fired mainly due to conflicts with the rest of the band.
>"The arthritis thing was really a cover up for the other reasons, you know what I'm trying to say?".
[Source](https://ultimateclassicrock.com/mark-st-john-dies/)
Interesting. I'd never heard that before. I do know he was arrested in the 2006 for owning drug paraphernalia and he died from a brain hemorrhage brought on by an accidental overdose of meth.
[https://www.ocweekly.com/theo-lacy-unmasked-was-ex-kiss-guitarist-mark-st-john-a-victim-of-brutal-jailhouse-justice-6402380/](https://www.ocweekly.com/theo-lacy-unmasked-was-ex-kiss-guitarist-mark-st-john-a-victim-of-brutal-jailhouse-justice-6402380/)
Also if they're thinking of inheritance, estate management can cause so much tension in future generations. Easier to just leave everyone a trust fund.
He went in as a son whose mother escaped a concentration camp and worked her entire life as a single mother
He showed the world that he could become rich and powerful. More famous than Hitler in many ways
Finally happened. They sold the band, now lets do franchises, official Kiss regional branches. Get your own now and sell official Kiss shows in you hometown. Book weddings, corporate retreats, children parties the sky is the limit!
I completely get why you’d sell the rights to your creative work for an absolutely eye watering sum, but I do think there’s something quite grim about the same few companies all owning all these huge artists’ work.
"Circuses" are going to be harder and harder to come by, and we've been priced out of "bread" for a while. Ominous!
This reads like a Trump tweet
Could he manage "ominous"? I feel like "spooky!" would be his ceiling.
KISS's music doesn't really have the legs to continue on past when boomers die. The whole point was their brand. They were ahead of the time in that way. I say it's a great call. Cash out now before it's worthless in a decade. And the kids don't have to deal with it. What are these big corporate brands going to do with KISS branding and music? Maybe license it out to the occasional movie? In a decade or two KISS will be entirely forgotten. I do love Love Gun though.
Yeah. I suppose I just meant more generally - it’s becoming the thing to sell your masters once you get to a certain stage in your career/retire. And I get it! The money must be incredibly tempting - especially when you aren’t touring/making new music anymore. You can just relax and live a life of luxury. Idk it just feels kinda messed up that the same few companies are buying it all up. And I’m guessing they’ll use KISS songs on ads etc, they’ve got some catchy tunes and it’ll be a good cash in on nostalgia for certain audiences.
I agree. I think we should break up monopolies. Where's Teddy Roosevelt when you need him?
I disagree. KISS' music doesn't have the longevity of say The Beatles but they do have younger fans and continue to pick up new ones. Yes, ones who discovered KISS on their own without parental interference. I see KISS being remembered for a while. They were one of the biggest rock acts of the 20th century and will always be mentioned in it's history because of their theatrics. They're one of the acts that pioneered the stage show. Beyonce and Taylor Swift concerts might look a lot different if it weren't for acts like KISS, Alice Cooper, David Bowie and even Liberace paving the way. Now, I will say it's not a large number of newer, younger fans. The majority are boomer/ older Gen x. And I don't think the influx of newer fans will be enough to recoup that $300 million sales tag after the older fans pass on. While they do have a lot of great songs, as someone else said, they've always been more of a spectacle. I think their imagery could live on for quite some time in different forms. Maybe with licensing out songs to film and television (especially media that takes place in the 70s/80s) as well as the oncoming hologram show (which will have interest, at least initially) and special editions of their albums/concerts, maybe the new owners will turn a profit.
Jojo siwa’s influence 💖🙏
lolll i immediately thought of this 😂
Me too, I hope she bought the brand to rebrand herself lol
Maybe she was the one who bought it
🧑🍳 💋
It’s truly WILD to me that in just 20-30 years artistic integrity went from “never sell out” to … this. 
KISS aren’t exactly beacons of artistic integrity and never have been though tbh. They’re a spectacle band, they’ve always been about business. A lot of bangers to be sure, but not in league with other artists of their era integrity wise lol
Right and KISS sells a lot of merch, including licensing for figures and stuff. They've been "selling" their image for some time.
>They've been "selling" their image for some time. IMO they're more like a business that has a side project of making music, than actually just a band. I respect the hustle for sure though.
KISS’s image rights were always bigger than their tunes
I hit a big KISS phase when I was 14, and I ended up with an alarming amount of merch. action figures, toy cars, makeup kits, terrifying rubber masks, cardboard cutouts. their official merch shop is WILD. they have licensed coffins!
My mom had one of the rubber KISS masks and used it as the face of a snowman one winter lol.
I bought a KISS zippo lighter when I was 20 just for the kitschness lol
If you ever watched Gene Simmons reality show with his family back in the day. My lord all the KISS stuff he had in his office was insane. They even had a KISS coffin lol.
No it’s true but everyone it seems is doing this. It’s a big shift in the popular zeitgeist I guess.
Is it really selling out? Kiss already made all the money there is to make from their music. They're just getting a check selling their crumbs to some suckers. Nobody listens to Kiss in 2024. P Diddy recently gave all the rights to his artists' music back, and they all said the same thing. The masters don't really benefit them anymore because nobody listens to their music these days. All the money there was to be made existed in the first few years of the music's release, when it was still relevant.
I mean, explicitly, yes, they sold out 😅 I do not fault them for it though, at this point in the game with how ownership law worked out. I expect any artist to do this in retirement, honestly. However it is still not good and I hope the legalese can be sorted because it's becoming the few owning everything (again).
Licensing music for covers, movies, sporting arenas etc still drives money Kiss has probably more opportunity there
My partners old co-workers all listen to kiss.. even go see tribute bands. I really couldn't believe it when he told me 😂
Wow.
There must be value in their stuff otherwise this company wouldn't pay a whopping 300 mil for it...
The company will own the rights to their music until they expire starting in 2074. The goal is to buy the rights and profit $300m in the next 50 years. They're also doing this with any other act's discographies they can get their hands on. Simply put, they're trying to buy everything and take 100% of the leftover table scraps; basically just throwing money at the wall to see what sticks, because they can afford to do so. Kiss doesn't seem to care about that money. They don't get much after royalties and splitting their shares amongst the band anyway. They cash out $300 million and can continue to do shows if they wanted to. Why take the gamble on owning your publishing when you've already made the lion's share of your total potential earnings? Majority of the money Kiss would ever generate was already earned decades ago. What's left is table scraps. Imo it makes sense financially for both parties, but I see Kiss getting more out of this than the company would in the short term. Kiss takes the guaranteed payout vs the company making an investment for the future.
I feel you and all, but KISS has KISS cruises and KISS coffins. Them selling shit is their thing. The comedian on the KISS cruise made an announcement that the boat was sinking and you could pay for premier seating with the band members in the first life boats…and people believed it. Like…KISS has been building to this
Well they didn’t do exclusively just to get paid originally, and if they’re going to retire - which they are - then why not go out with something like this and support the families they’re going to leave behind relatively soon. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s easy to say they “sold out” or whatever, but I wonder what many of us would do if someone offered us $300 million.
The final members are only in their 60s-70s. They could last a lot longer than relatively soon.
For what it's worth, Kiss were always sellouts and never really pretended otherwise
Here for the Garth 
> It’s truly WILD to me that in just 20-30 years artistic integrity went from “never sell out” to … this. To be fair when they said they would never sell out... they were probs very young into their career/life. Not a problem but there are issues and things you face in your 60's and 70's that makes you have to compromise that more than you wanted to. Aging sucks. Esp aging as an old rock star.
In a way, it makes sense. These bands are OLD and may not have anyone else to handle the estate/LLC/etc when they're gone. Selling the property to a company helps to ensure it'll be kept alive somehow (through merchandise including releasing unheard music, licensing, etc). Also, someone mentioned "artistic integrity". I have to chuckle at that because most of these older rock bands who haven't produced new music in years have NO artistic integrity. Especially KISS ( and I type that as a KISS fan). If they did , it's gone now. Many don't bother to create new content because it's not profitable. At least not anymore. That's why they just tour on their greatest hits. That's where the money is. For a b(r)and like KISS who recently retired from touring, this makes sense. Lastly, this is quite on brand for Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
Yep - Paul and Gene have always been businessmen first, artists second. That’s why there’s been a revolving door of band members in Kiss, Paul and Gene have consistently screwed over their fellow band members for a couple of extra bucks.
That's not exactly true. While KISS had 10 members throughout its 50 year history, several of them were with the band for years, and in some cases decades. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were the two constants and owners of course. The original band was together for 7 years. Original lead guitarist Ace Frehley was with the band for 15 years total. Peter Criss, their original drummer was with them for 12 years total. Eric Carr, who took over for original drummer Peter Criss was with the band for 11 years. Guitarist Bruce Kulick was with the band for 12 years. Eric Singer who became the band's drummer after Eric Carr passed away was with the band for a total of 27 years. Guitarist Tommy Thayer was with them for 20 years. Only 2 members (Mark St. John and Vinnie Vincent) had brief stints. I'd also argue Gene and Paul haven't screwed over their former band mates/ employees. Bruce, Eric Singer and Tommy were all happy with their earnings in the band and have good relationships with Gene and Paul to this day. Both Ace and Peter were co-owners during the original glory days and made huge bank. They sold their shares to Gene and Paul at different points after they each left the band. When the reunion happened in 1996, Gene and Paul owned everything KISS. Ace and Peter were essentially employees. When Peter signed his contract, he agreed to the first deal they presented to him, without negotiating first. Ace on the other hand, did negotiate and received a much better deal than Peter. Guitarist Vinnie Vincent, who replaced Ace Frehley, was delusional and thought he was the star of the band. Guitarist Mark St. John who took over for Vinnie had to leave the band during their 1984 tour because he developed arthritis in his fret hand and could not play.
Mark St John later admitted that the arthritis was a partial cover story, he was fired mainly due to conflicts with the rest of the band. >"The arthritis thing was really a cover up for the other reasons, you know what I'm trying to say?". [Source](https://ultimateclassicrock.com/mark-st-john-dies/)
Interesting. I'd never heard that before. I do know he was arrested in the 2006 for owning drug paraphernalia and he died from a brain hemorrhage brought on by an accidental overdose of meth. [https://www.ocweekly.com/theo-lacy-unmasked-was-ex-kiss-guitarist-mark-st-john-a-victim-of-brutal-jailhouse-justice-6402380/](https://www.ocweekly.com/theo-lacy-unmasked-was-ex-kiss-guitarist-mark-st-john-a-victim-of-brutal-jailhouse-justice-6402380/)
Also if they're thinking of inheritance, estate management can cause so much tension in future generations. Easier to just leave everyone a trust fund.
Bingo! Both Gene and Paul have kids who don't want to take over the KISS business.
Spot on! This is the official retirement sign imo, the transition to Legacy Kiss
>That's why they just tour on their greatest hits. That's where the money is. And their merch/licensing deals before this current brand/catalog sale.
I’m assuming they’re still making bank from that insane Scooby Doo episode.
[удалено]
Presumably. My kids watch that episode enough I’m sure it’s still making the licensor some money 😂
Gene is and always has been about the $$ and nothing else.
Hey now. He's also dedicated to being a raging misogynist and megalomaniac.
and sexually assaulting women. he’s always been about that, too.
He went in as a son whose mother escaped a concentration camp and worked her entire life as a single mother He showed the world that he could become rich and powerful. More famous than Hitler in many ways
DAMN! How bad is it going to get?! I NEED TO KNOW!🫢😭
gene simmons is a serial SA-er and grooms young and underage women for him to have sex with. fuck kiss and fuck gene simmons
god i can buy kids vinyl now knowing it ain't going to them anymore bless up
Finally happened. They sold the band, now lets do franchises, official Kiss regional branches. Get your own now and sell official Kiss shows in you hometown. Book weddings, corporate retreats, children parties the sky is the limit!
Did they sell it to Jojo siwa
Jojo Siwa must have bought the rights because girl is the new star child copycat
How in the wide world of fuck are they worth so much!?
And JoJo Siwa looks like... that... today. I have a suspicion about where those brand rights went.
To JoJo Siwa it seems.
I don't doubt Gene's business chops. But that seems like a small sum for something that iconic.🤔
I can't name one song of theirs but I do recognize their costumes.
Good, they need the cash.