The company that helped bring the avatars of ABBA Voyage to life, Pophouse Entertainment, said on Thursday (March 19) it bought a majority stake in the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll Tina Turner‘s music rights.
BMG retains a significant minority stake in the package of rights it acquired in 2021, which included Turner’s artist’s share of her recordings, her music publishing writer’s share, neighboring rights and name, image, and likeness rights. Turner’s record company Warner Music Group remains the owner of her master recording catalog. Pophouse and BMG declined to comment on the terms of the deal.
A legendary singer, songwriter and live performer, Turner sold more than 180 million albums, won 12 Grammys, and was twice inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Her life was the subject of at least three documentaries and a Tony Award-winning musical. But now with much of her name, image and likeness rights in new hands, Pophouse CEO Jessica Koravos says to expect new ways to experience Turner’s legendary live show, particularly as a solo artist.
“We came to the table with the sense that not enough had been said or made of the latter part of Tina’s career: her time in Europe and her huge hits as a solo artist later in life, just exactly how groundbreaking she was,” Pophouse CEO Jessica Koravos tells Billboard. “To capture Tina’s energy as a live performer, which is something that I have experienced personally on a number of occasions, is certainly the goal.”
After the “Proud Mary” singer split from her professional and personal life with ex-husband Ike Turner, she released ten studio albums, two live albums, two soundtracks and five compilations as a solo artist.
Her solo hits like “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” “Private Dancer” and “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” set her up for legendary world tours, including her 1988 Break Every Rule World Tour show in Rio de Janeiro, where Turner played to a record-breaking crowd at Maracanã Stadium.
Her last road trip, the 90-show Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour, was the No. 9 top-grossing tour in 2009, according to Billboard Boxscore.
Turner became a best-selling author with 1986’s I, Tina; she bagged a total of 17 solo hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100; and was first inducted into the Rock Hall in 1991 as a member of Ike & Tina Turner, and again in 2021 as a solo artist.
The legendary artist died May 24, 2023, at age 83.
Established by ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus and Conni Jonsson, who founded one of the world’s largest private equity firm EQT AB, Sweden-based Pophouse acquires the publishing, recording and name, image and likeness rights to iconic pop catalogs, such as that of KISS, Cyndi Lauper, Avicii and Swedish House Mafia.
Pophouse’s playbook is to build experiences around the rights it buys through theatrical and virtual shows, museums and movies.
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ABBA Voyage, the London show where avatars of the ABBA members in their prime perform the band’s greatest hits, was created by ABBA in conjunction with Pophouse and Industrial Light & Magic. Now led by Craig Hartenstein, ABBA Voyage has sold more than 3.5 million tickets and is set to begin performances in a New York City location on the westside of midtown Manhattan, where development is underway. ABBA Voyage did not comment for this article.
Pophouse’s partnership with BMG on Turner’s music rights marks the first time the boutique catalog and experiences company has teamed up with one of the largest music companies to develop tech-forward, immersive experiences.
“We are spending a lot of time and effort on making sure we are the masters of some of these emerging entertainment technologies,” Koravos says. “We intend to complement one another and to continue to work together to maximize everything for Tina.”
KISS, which sold its name and likeness rights to Pophouse in 2024, is set to debut a virtual performance of its songs in Las Vegas as soon as 2027.
“We are spending next week with the pyro[technic] specialists, seeing how hot the fire can be without burning the screens,” Koravos says.
