A second life for legends: why the IRON MAIDEN deal with the company of ABBA's creator will change the world of heavy music

The Swedish company Pophouse, founded by the legendary guitarist of the quartet ABBA Björn Ulvaeus, has officially purchased exactly half of the publishing and songwriting rights to all the music of the British titans IRON MAIDEN. In addition to the music catalog, the parties divided 50/50 the rights for the commercial use of the band's iconic name, its recognizable visual style, and the individual images of the members themselves. Financial details of the large-scale agreement were kept secret, leaving open the intriguing question of whose voice will remain decisive in the event of disputes—a detail that has key significance for any deals with a 50/50 split.

The first major fruit of the collaboration between Pophouse and IRON MAIDEN was the large-scale exhibition project The Infinite Dreams Museum Experience, which first opened its doors to visitors at the Eddfest music festival. This impressive exhibition was created for the glorious half-century anniversary of the legendary band based on the festive edition of Infinite Dreams, detailing the band's half-century history through the prism of their immortal and sinister mascot named Eddie. Specially for this event, the organizers set up an entire themed space, Maidenville, where loyal fans were awaited by engaging interactive attractions and unique entertainment zones, entirely dedicated to Eddie and the glorious past of the British metalheads.

As emphasized in the official press release, this partnership is aimed at giving the band fundamentally new creative horizons, strengthening the already strong bond with a multi-million army of loyal fans, and attracting the attention of a completely new audience to their richest musical heritage.

However, the scope of this alliance is by no means limited to just large-scale concert installations. The Pophouse and IRON MAIDEN teams are already actively engaged in production of large-scale footage of their current world tour, Run For Your Lives, which will form the basis of a major feature film project. Further ambitious plans include the active development of interactive formats for communication with the fan base and even the creation of a full-fledged digital metaverse, where the main and central figure will invariably remain the infernal Eddie.

Executive Director of Pophouse Jessica Koravos commented on this epochal event as follows:

— We have become full and equal companions of the collective—our shares are divided strictly equally, 50/50. Our main mission now is to work together to multiply the speed of bringing to life all the grandiose plans of IRON MAIDEN for the coming years. IRON MAIDEN has colossal potential for building entire fantastic worlds, based both on their signature visual style and the plot lines of their iconic compositions. And uncompromising heavy metal, especially in combination with such a colorful character as Eddie, is ideally suited for large-scale projects in the horror aesthetic.

The permanent manager of IRON MAIDEN Rod Smallwood also shared his impressions of the concluded deal:

— I am incredibly encouraged by the start of our partnership with Pophouse and the fantastic prospects it opens up for the prompt implementation, comprehensive support, and generous funding of our numerous creative ideas. This will allow us to execute ideas much faster than we could have ever expected on our own. Our fans can sleep soundly: in the future, MAIDEN has many more surprises in store. And Eddie will run the show, you can be sure of that!

Pophouse is actively investing in the acquisition of musical heritage: over the past few years, the company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on purchasing intellectual property rights of such eminent artists as KISS, Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, Avicii and Swedish House Mafia.

As for the legendary British metalheads, IRON MAIDEN was founded in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris, who also acts as the author of most of the band's compositions. Over its long history, the band has sold over 100 million copies of their albums and performed more than 2000 live concerts.