Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to breathe new life into long-dead music stars, whom already retain popularity as iconic “necro brands”.
Macquarie University Marketing Professor Chris Baumann said the content of many celebrities continued to be sold long after their deaths.
Professor Baumann, who coined the term necro-branding, said artists like Elvis, Michael Jackson, Prince, David Bowie, John Lennon and Kurt Cobain were among many long-dead celebrities whose popularity lives on.
He said necro-branding was where the image of a celebrity was sold to the public by direct stakeholders such as the family or estate or indirect stakeholders such as fans, long after the celebrity had died.
“Necro-branding is fuelled by parasocial grief or the sense of loss felt by fans over the death of a celebrity.”
Professor Baumann said Elvis was the most successful example of a concept.
“There are a lot of dead celebrities, but Elvis is unique,” he said.
“Look at the number of impersonators. There are Gracelands all over the world as well as festivals and thousands of items of merchandise.”
Professor Baumann said necro-branding was a multi-billion-dollar industry that would be further fuelled by technology such as AI.
“From improving the sound and picture quality of old clips to the AI-generated avatars, technology is enabling and fuelling advances in necro-branding.”
He said Elvis was worth about US$5 million dollars at the time of his death in 1977.
“In 2022, Elvis Presley Enterprises had an estimated net worth of between $400 million and $500 million.”
Professor Baumann said technology had the potential to expand the marketability of necro-celebrities, such as Elvis, by expanding the range of potential products and entertainment.
He said fans could pay $594 to see Elvis Evolution in London in 2025, which used AI to animate thousands of Elvis’ personal photos and hours of the star’s home-videos in an immersive theatrical experience.
Read Professor Baumann’s paper Necro-branding: Elvis Presley as a necro-celebrity.
