Unit1 raises $20m to stage touring concerts with digital artists
UK music technology startup Unit1 has raised $20m to create concerts featuring hyper-realistic digital avatars of living artists who no longer tour and deceased performers. The company aims to provide a cheaper, more flexible alternative to productions such as Abba Voyage, without requiring a permanent venue, potentially allowing shows to tour or run in multiple countries simultaneously.
Founded by former Andrew Lloyd Webber entertainment chief executive Barney Wragg, Unit1 will use archive footage, motion capture, actors and musicians to recreate performances, with live instrumentalists appearing alongside digital artists. Its technology has been tested with KT Tunstall, while the company plans to spend the new funding on research, intellectual property and licensing deals; however, the project faces ethical concerns over digitally recreating deceased musicians and must secure approval from their estates.
- Unit1 raised $20m to recreate concerts using digital musician avatars.
- Its shows could be cheaper and more portable than Abba Voyage.
- Digital resurrections of deceased artists raise ethical concerns.
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Unit1 is a British music technology company that uses digital technology to create realistic avatars of musicians who can perform in concerts. These avatars could represent living artists who no longer tour or singers who have died. The company says this would be cheaper and more adaptable than existing concert experiences like Abba Voyage, which requires a permanent venue and runs in one location.
The company was founded by Barney Wragg, a former executive at Andrew Lloyd Webber's entertainment company. Unit1 creates its performances by combining archive footage, motion capture technology and live musicians, with real instrumentalists performing alongside the digital avatars. The company has already tested its approach with musician KT Tunstall.
Unit1 has just raised £20 million to develop the technology further and secure rights to artists' work. The business model could allow concerts to tour different cities or countries without a permanent theatre. However, the idea of creating digital recreations of deceased musicians raises ethical questions, and Unit1 will need permission from the estates of dead artists whose likenesses it wants to use.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
This technology democratises access to live music from artists who can no longer perform, whether through age, health, or mortality, whilst preserving their artistry for new and existing audiences. Rather than these performances disappearing entirely, digital concerts allow creative heritage to persist and be experienced in new venues and countries, creating both cultural value and economic opportunity. When developed with proper licensing and estate approval, such productions honour artists' legacies by keeping their work alive and beloved, much as theatre honours deceased playwrights through continued performance of their work.
The case against
Creating digital replicas of artists—particularly deceased performers who cannot consent—risks reducing complex human artistry to a commercial product divorced from the original creator's agency and intention. Whilst proponents emphasise preservation, audiences may struggle to distinguish authentic artistry from simulacrum, potentially eroding the authenticity that makes live performance meaningful. The technology raises troubling questions about whether estates should have unlimited commercial authority over a deceased artist's likeness and voice, and whether profit-driven companies should be the arbiters of how cultural legacies are presented to the world.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “UK startup snares $20m to recreate gigs with ‘hyper-realistic’ digital avatars”.