Afterlife: The business of celebrity legacies
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We explore the growing industry built around the legacies of celebrities after their deaths. We hear from estate managers, the agents representing the deceased and from those reviving these stars in a market the ethics of which are still being debated.
To get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Presented and produced by Sean Allsop
Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.
Each episode is a 17-minute, daily deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.
Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, the economic impact of the war in the Middle East, and why bond markets are so powerful.
We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the CEO of Canva, Melanie Perkins.
(Picture: The premiere of "EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert" on the 9th of February 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | I'm Sean Alsop, and welcome to Business Daily on the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.0 | This is the way in. |
| 0:11.9 | Yeah, this is a search. |
| 0:13.3 | Thank you. |
| 0:14.2 | Officially, you should go in that other door because there's a little sign-in. |
| 0:17.4 | I'm in a secret location, where they're preparing a show for one of the biggest stars the world has ever seen. |
| 0:24.1 | It's very dark, so keep my understep. |
| 0:26.2 | I can see no particular way in. |
| 0:30.6 | Just carry on. |
| 0:32.8 | It's a dark warehouse. |
| 0:34.5 | There are many technicians around working away, and then a giant screen lights |
| 0:39.4 | up. Oh, you'll get this up as some blocks by that. Yeah. You're going to get some good moments. |
| 0:49.2 | That's the start of it, isn't it? This is just a little transitional sequence. It's been like 72. |
| 0:56.0 | That's great. |
| 0:57.0 | You know you're always quite well, that. |
| 0:59.0 | I know a wee bit. |
| 1:01.0 | It's Elvis Presley in a way you have never experienced him in a brand new show. |
| 1:06.0 | But how is this possible? |
| 1:10.0 | Elvis isn't in the building. |
| 1:11.5 | In fact, he's dead. |
| 1:13.6 | But that's not stopping him and others, |
... |
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