Selena Quintanilla Hologram Confirmed! Digital Singer Tours in 2018
Fans of the late Selena Quintanilla will once again see the singer perform live - at least a digitized version of her.
In an announcement made on the iconic singer's official Facebook page, it was revealed that Nevada-based Acrovirt LLC has launched "Selena the One," a "walking, talking, singing, and dancing, digital embodiment" of the queen of Tejano music. This hologram of the performer "will release new songs and videos, will collaborate with current hit artists, and aims to go on tour in 2018."
Acrovirt LLC co-CEO Terry Kennedy wrote on his LinkedIn page that the company has conducted research and partnerships with neuroscience universities to "impose an individuals' biological information into a digital environment."
"Using detailed individual personalized functions spanning the mind, brain and body, the individual's Digitized Human Essence will autonomously learn and react on behalf of its human counterpart's," Kennedy explained on LinkedIn. The Digital Human Essences will also have the ability to interact in various avenues in entertainment, sports, shopping, education, and file sharing platforms.
The project already struck a deal with the San Diego Latino Film Festival, Billboard wrote. SelenaTheOne.com also added that an IndieGoGo campaign aims to raise $500,000 in support of the digital creation of Selena.
Back in 2014, the artist's father, Abraham, said in an interview with El Universal that creating a hologram based on Selena wouldn't be easy, explaining that "the prices are ridiculous and it requires the transportation of tons of equipment," as quoted by Billboard.
Abraham and Selena's brother, A.B., both had meetings with San Diego-based AV Concepts about the project. In 2013, A.B. said that the hologram was not "well-defined" and that "it wasn't enough for the fans . . . she looked like a ghost," Billboard reported.
Selena died in the hands of Yolanda Saldivar, the president of her fan club, on March 31, 1995 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Saldivar is currently serving a life sentence in prison. Selena died before finishing her crossover and sixth album "Dreaming of You," which was released on July 18, 1995, the news outlet noted.
For more info about the digitized project, read Billboard's interview with the singer's sister, Suzette, here.
Selena's Estate Suing a Record Label
On March 31, Selena's estate has filed a lawsuit against UMG Recordings in U.S. District Court in New York. According to a separate report from Billboard, allegedly, the record label has unpaid digital music royalties.
The lawsuit has reportedly indicated that "two 1993 agreements say the estate should get 50 percent of UMG's net receipts from licensing or selling her music to third-party digital content providers," and that "an audit of documents from July 2009 to present found UMG miscalculated royalties and 'grossly underpaid' the estate," the news outlet continued.
UMC didn't provide any comment regarding the issue.