(NEW YORK) - Veteran music executive Danny Goldberg has purchased Todd Rundgren's direct-to-consumer music network and launched an online company that aims to connect artists directly with fans through original material and subscriber-based services. Goldberg enters a crowded arena that analysts say has yet to see a business model able to sustain an artist financially. Goldberg, the former CEO of Mercury and Warner Music Group who launched indie label Artemis last year, said he hopes to attract an audience to ArtistEnt by focusing on original content rather than e-commerce. Sugar Ray, Roseanna Arquette and Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band have signed on to develop material. Sheryl Crow and jazz artist Ornette Colman are reportedly considering gigs with the new company. The artists will be expected to produce at least a half-hour of original content each week in the form of songs, radio shows, interview programs and behind-the-scenes material. Goldberg plans to incorporate Rundgren's PatroNet, designed to let fans directly underwrite new works by artists, into the ArtistEnt network. The new company also gets the rights to the Interocitor, the software technology Rundgren developed that lets fans access his music as it is created. Goldberg said he expects to turn music created through ArtistEnt into CDs and release them through the Artemis label. (The Hollywood Reporter)
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