A lot has happened in music licensing recently.
For instance, nu-metal act Korn partnered with Adidas to release a footwear collection, a development that’s seemed inevitable since the band’s sophomore effort Life Is Peachy (1996) and the track A.D.I.D.A.S.
Not to mention frontman Jonathan Davis’ fondness for the sportswear brand.
It’s part of a new-ish trend in metal that’s seen bands (and fans) become more receptive to the ultimate sin, “selling out”. Who would’ve put Metallica and English goth act Cradle of Filth on the Guitar Hero soundtrack back in the early 1990s?
Pepper’s Ghost
Licensing, of both songs and band imagery, is big business.
Rock band Kiss recently sold everything the band owns - and is - for $300 million. While it’s hardly the first act to put itself up for sale (Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, and Genesis have all done the same), the Gene Simmons-fronted outfit seems to have sold more than anybody else so far.
New owner Pophouse Entertainment is intent on turning the iconic group into an experiment in AI media, potentially keeping Kiss on the circuit until the heat-death of the universe. It’s a strange take on immortality that’s only recently become possible.
Pophouse previously created hologram-based concerts for ABBA, which is a little less surprising, given that the company was founded by original band member and Mamma Mia composer Björn Ulvaeus.
Still, this kind of hi-tech approach to entertainment is rare, and some might consider it mercifully so. The “holographic” appearance by 2Pac at Coachella in 2012 (“holographic”, because it used a simple magician’s trick called Pepper’s Ghost) still seems eerie more than a decade on.
Metal and rock seem to have more of an eye for interactive media, i.e. video and casino gaming.
Dead by Daylight
For Motorhead, slot machines seem to be where it’s at.
Casino Stake, which compares the best slot sites by bonuses and other content, notes that Nordis Casino has an unusual 5-reel slot featuring the imagery of Lemmy Kilminster and the familiar Motorhead logo. It’s built by developer NetEnt.
The Motorhead game is part of a group of band-themed slots that also includes titles dedicated to Guns ‘n’ Roses, Ozzy Osbourne, and Jimi Hendrix. In fact, many 80s and 90s bands that made it to household name status have officially licensed games out there.
They’ve also joined Cradle of Filth in Guitar Hero.
Perhaps one of the more infamous team-ups between a band and a game is also a recent one - Slipknot and cynical horror Dead by Daylight. The octet has lent their imagery to Behaviour Interactive, to create cosmetics for players to wear.
This kind of thing is definitely on brand for Slipknot, who have become much friendlier since the savagery of their 1999 self-titled album. Licensing a band's identity and songs is pretty mundane by 2024 (famous video game disaster Rise of the Robots featured Brian May songs in 1994) yet it’s bound to be a thorny issue for some purists.
Until they start making Megadeth underpants, we should be fine.
