MSP52 [] The Singing Dead

With Amy Winehouse set to tour the world in 2019, are we stumbling towards a future of zombie stars? Artists frozen in time and doomed by AI and CGI to repeat their hits for infinity.

Links:
Roy Orbison, Hologram Tour https://youtu.be/1Lem-iefSm0

Episode Excerpt:

These shows are dictated to and transcribed by machines, and hurriedly edited by a human. Apologies for the minor typos and grammar flaws.

Sometimes it feels more like an episode of the X-Files or one of Infowars’ crazier moments when you’re talking to Kulturpop’s Matt Armitage. Today, I believe we’re talking about technology and deceased pop stars. That’s right: it’s the singing dead. It’s time to Mattsplain.

I can only assume we’re talking about Amy Winehouse, here?
•Yes. In case any of you missed it, last week there was a story that Amy Winehouse, who died in 2011, will be embarking on her first world tour since her death.
•And, in case you’re wondering how that works, it’s not a bunch of fans sitting around her casket while her albums are played over the PA.
•No, it’s something even more sinister and macabre than that.
•Amy will actually be onstage, belting out her hits, night after night.

Like a hologram?
•Yeah. It will be a mixture of holograms with cutting edge CGI and presumably AI, so it gives the appearance of being live and natural.
•Even though she isn’t alive and this isn’t natural.

This is what they did with 2Pac at Coachella a few years ago?
•Before I dive into the technology side, yes, there have been quite a few attempts to bring dead artists back to the stage virtually.
•2Pac is one, back in 2012.
•Frank Sinatra was brought back for a duet with Alicia Keys at the Grammys.
•Michael Jackson, of course at an award ceremony in 2014.
•There have even been rumours that Justin Timberlake might appear with Prince at a Superbowl.

And they use the same technology?
•The music business is a really dirty one, and there have been a number of companies trying to pioneer various technologies and systems.
•And they’re all constantly suing and counter-suing each other.
•Some of them even sue the estates of the artists they’re trying to secure.
•\I think a couple of time, the estates haven’t liked what the companies have come up with and pulled out on the grounds of maintaining the dead star’s legacy.
•It’s this weird thing in music. They think it’s a great idea to sue their clients and customers.