“We are building a KISS universe!”: Pophouse’s Jon Spalding on brand plans for iconic music artists

Jon, it’s always lovely to chat. To kick us off, for new to Pophouse, what do they need to know?

Pophouse is a Stockholm-based entertainment company, co-founded by Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA and Conni Jonsson of EQT Partners.

Pophouse invests in artists music catalogues – acquiring the music and IP rights – before developing them as global franchises. Most recently, Pophouse acquired the full music and IP rights of KISS, who join Cyndi Lauper, Avicii, and Swedish House Mafia in the portfolio. There are plans to grow the portfolio to make further investments, adding more artist catalogues and creative partnerships to the mix.

Our vision is to develop our artists brand IP through pioneering next-generation storytelling. A great example is ABBA Voyage, the record- breaking and pioneering concert live experience in London, of which Pophouse is founding investor.

We have built a team at Pophouse with experience in franchise and brand building – people have joined from organisations as diverse as Harry Potter, Star Wars and Absolute Vodka – so our approach is building long-term franchise roadmaps for our artists that includes content, gaming, partnerships, music and experiences.

What gives artists like KISS and Cyndi Lauper brand potential?
We put storytelling at our core – building on each artists unique DNA and fandom.

Take for example, Cyndi Lauper and her hit song ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’. You can still vividly picture Cyndi dancing down the street in New York City, 1983 wearing unique and iconic fashion that mixes pop and punk styling, her attitude, and a being a force of joy. The messages of individuality, equality, and self-expression are as relevant today as ever. The song has crossed over one billion streams and is a movement across all ages and genders.

With KISS, we have pop-culture icons of 50 plus years with a powerful history of storytelling – the first-ever band to appear in Marvel, with the iconic logo and imagery. Globally recognised for their personas and storied history.

In previous roles at Mattel, Disney and NBCUniversal, you were working with character brands. Is there much crossover in terms of how you’re approaching building programmes around musicians and bands?
At Mattel, I was lucky enough to work on the Barbie movie. Celebrating a 65-year legacy across multiple generations – like comparisons could be drawn here with KISS. With KISS, you have an incredible and dedicated global fanbase – known as the KISS Army. KISS really pioneered this space – the loyal fans, the clubs and creating the community within their fanbase.

“Our vision is to develop our artists brand IP through pioneering next-generation storytelling.”

When we build our programs, we always start with fans and their insights. We talk to the fans, and look at the brand DNA, the songs, the stories behind the songs, the artistry – to help us build new worlds and universes for our artists.

On that, do artists like KISS and Cyndi Lauper have an interest in how their brand is extending into different categories? Are they hands-on?
We work very closely with KISS, Cyndi Lauper, and Swedish House Mafia. It’s They’re always a true creative partnership with an aligned vision and approach, plus and great relationships. With AVICII, we work very closely with Tim’s family.

KISS, Cyndi Lauper, Avicii and Swedish House Mafia are all quite different as artists. Does that extend to them suiting different product categories when it comes to licensing?
Yes, it’s very varied. Let’s start with KISS for example. We are building a whole universe around KISS – movies, series, graphic novels, gaming, avatar shows, fan events and, of course, consumer products. The history of the band is full of great stories – our first phase is to celebrate this with content and partnerships.

Fantastic – and KISS seems perfect for partnerships. They have such a distinct style – you can ‘KISS-ify’ lots of things!
Absolutely. You can KISS-ify almost anything – and there’s an incredible history there. They’ve been in Marvel comics, they’ve done collaborations with Hello Kitty, Coca-Cola, Elevated Fashion brands to name a few. They have iconic imagery along with their era-defining music.

Now, what are some key considerations you make when assessing a potential licensing partnership?
We focus on the DNA of our artist and the partnership scope – the shared values, fanbase. What is the go-to-market angle? What is the ‘wow’ factor? We have a clear picture of how our partnerships will be executed and work backwards from this.

Are you a music fan Jon? And does that matter with regards to the job you’re doing?
I’m a huge music fan – I studied music at university! My first job was selling music at a distributor. It was always my dream to work in music again. I play and write music and, I’ve been in bands. It is truly a dream come true to work for Pophouse – to mix my love of music and my background in franchising and products background.

“You can KISS-ify almost anything – and there’s an incredible history there.”

Is there anything you’ve learnt about the artists since joining Pophouse that surprised you – and sparked ideas about potential brand extensions?
Every day we learn new things… My favourite so far is learning that KISS put do their own stage make-up on, spending two to three hours before each gig applying their own make-up. No team. The process of transforming and getting into character. We think there is a great theme to develop with a make-up collaboration, that is true and authentic to the KISS brand.

Great examples. I have one last question! What fuels your creativity and helps you have ideas?

I love collaborating. Meeting great people, seeing great things is inspiring. The licensing industry is great because there are some many brilliant people.

I I was lucky enough to see ABBA Voyage, a show that Pophouse is involved in and seeing the audience reaction to it is deeply inspiring. Underneath the state-of-art tech and future-thinking process, there is an emotional connection and great storytelling.
 
Jon, this has been fun. Thanks again!