ABBA star shares ‘strange and emotional’ feeling when watching ABBA Voyage
ABBA legend Björn Ulvaeus has shared how he finds the experience of watching the ABBA Voyage live show he helped create.
Speaking at the SXSW London event in Shoreditch, Ulvaeus described watching a hologram of his younger self performing as “almost a spiritual feeling, there’s something strange in the room which is amazing.”
“It’s kind of weird, the strangest thing about Voyage is how emotional it is,” he added. “How people so quickly forget that they’re looking at screens. I’m amazed, we had no idea that would happen.”
The ABBA Voyage virtual concert experience opened in 2022 and the band were heavily involved in coming up with ideas for the show. It has been a huge commercial success, bringing in sales of over £100 million, and was developed alongside Pophouse Entertainment Group, the production company which Ulvaeus is involved with.
ABBA star on watching ABBA Voyage and the rise of AI music: ‘AI cannot write a good song’
At the event Ulvaeus also revealed he is working on another live experience, but wouldn’t say whether it is inspired or produced in collaboration with another band or music artist. He would say that he is developing a virtual experience around the 1980s band Kiss, as well as a new musical with music written by AI.
Ulvaeus was at the SXSW London event to discuss the role AI plays in creating music. He has been campaigning for fair pay for musicians in light of AI creating new music that exploits songwriters. AI is inspired by human-created music, but at the moment royalties aren’t reaching the original musicians.
As reported by City AM, Ulvaeus asserted that while AI is helpful to assist the creative process, it cannot make a good song. “It’s very bad at lyrics, but it can give you ideas,” he said. “It is like having another songwriter in the room with huge references frames, it really is an extension of your mind, you have access to things you didn’t think of before.”
Reflecting on his own experiences of making hit singles with ABBA, he said the band “learned to throw away 95 percent” of their ideas. “I hear people say they’ve written 200 songs this year and I don’t think they have,” he added. “Out of that 200 maybe keep ten percent. We could go weeks, full time office hours and have very little to show for it.”
The SXSW festival originated in Austin, Texas, in 1987 as a festival of ideas. The London event, in its inaugural year, features hundreds of talks, workshops, masterclasses and live music and cinema events with thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and creatives. The inaugural London event takes place throughout Shoreditch until 7 June. Sadiq Khan opened the event, which originated in Texas in 1987, by pitching London as an international AI hub.