By Jim Harrington
It's somewhat ironic that Todd Rundgren, who for 30 years has been involved at so many levels in the music business, soon could be regarded as that industry's public enemy No. 1.
Then again, those who have followed Rundgren's impressive and diverse career know to expect a left turn at every intersection.
As a recording star in his own right and as a producer of some of the biggest names in rock, Rundgren has done more than his part to keep the wheels greased in the record industry machine. He also has confounded it at times, chasing newly emerging niche markets instead of working in a pop realm he has already mastered.
Now he's going completely outside the box to see if he can make it work without using the normal channels of distribution. Rather than rely on major record labels and distributors to deliver his music to the people, Rundgren will use the internet to give fans direct access to him and his songs.
Should it succeed, the subscription-based service, which Rundgren calls TRTV, is just what the music industry fears most--that artists will soon sell their own music independent of labels, distributors and retail outlets.
He's enthusiastic about the service--and the technology that makes it available--and is coming to Palo Alto to promote it. He spent an hour on the phone with this reporter extolling the virtues of TRTV; just imagine what he'll do when he gets to The Edge on Wednesday.
"The principal reason I'm (coming) is to publicize that I've got my own online subscription service," Rundgren says from his home on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. "Principally, I'm coming over to hype myself."
Believe him.
Previewing his Edge concert, Rundgren spends 10 minutes explaining how the event will be used to showcase various features of his online service. In particular, concert goers will be able to go online and chat with other Rundgren fans around the world while an electronic image of the Palo Alto audience is uploaded onto the Web.
He finishes his 10-minute pitch with the apparent afterthought that he will "then play music." That's a given, Rundgren says, and fans can expect him to sing both modern and classic Todd songs while accompanying himself on either guitar or piano.
"This isn't a major tour, and it doesn't have a grand concept around it," he explains. "There's no particular agenda around it. I just come up with what I come up with."
Rundgren's fans give him a lot of rope--and he knows it. That's why he can feel comfortable going into his concerts with just a vague notion of what will happen. That's also why his online subscription service has a good chance of succeeding. Rundgren fans are willing to give just about anything a go.
"That's what being a Todd Rundgren fan is," he says. "It's about the unexpected."
As a producer, Rundgren is responsible for shaping one of the biggest albums in rock history (Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell"), but on his own and in fronting band projects, the man has been less than a hit factory. Of course, with the production royalties from records by Cheap Trick, Patti Smith and Hall and Oates, he hasn't had to be his own hit factory.
"That's how I could continue to support my lifestyle," Rundgren explains. "I had a day job that allowed me to make music without being terribly concerned about its commercial impact. Which drove record companies crazy."
Since his landmark one-man opus of 1972, "Something/Anything"--a double-album on which Rundgren played all the instruments--and its radio-friendly singles "I Saw the Light" and "Hello It's Me"--he increasingly has tested the bounds of commercial viability. Both in his solo career and his recordings with the band Utopia, which made its vinyl debut in 1974, Rundgren has twisted and bent the conventions of pop to accomodate his fascinations with different musical genres and emerging technologies.
Call him a pioneer; call him an artist's artist. But the fact remains that Rundgren's record-buying audience has shrunk over the years. Although he still has a good-sized fan base, it is clearly not part of the Spice Girls-buying crowd that fuels the Billboard Charts.
The online service, however, gives Rundgren an opportunity to reach fans who don't frequent the Tower Records and Wherehouses of America.
"The financial reasons (justifying the online venture) are very practical, because there are certain dynamics in the industry that you can't overcome," he says.
Typically, a Sony or an Elektra or a Warner Bros. gives an artist like Rundgren an advance in return for a certain percentage of the sales. But with all the expenses associated with putting out a major-label record, a Todd Rundgren usually has to score a hit to make any money.
With the Web, however, fans get a direct link through which to download Rundgren's music, allowing him to make money with much smaller sales figures. Already, with fewer than 2,500 subscribers to TRTV, Rundgren says he is making more money than he could have with a major-label deal.
Eventually, as more subscribers join, Rundgren expects to make more money with the Web site than he ever did--even at his commercial prime--using the regular channels.
"That old model is inventory-driven and requires a blockbuster mentality," Rundgren says. "The Web is different. It's more like fishing."
If you don't mind being likened to a fish, log onto TRTV at www.tr-i.com. The bait includes custom-built software offering live audio and video capabilities, chat rooms, bulletin-board messaging and new music. Your $60 membership fee also brings you four CDs of music each year, plus a videotape and various souvenirs.
For Rundrgren, getting music to the public on an individual song-by-song basis, instead of making the fans wait until an entire album's worth of music is ready, suits him to a T.
"I live like a musician instead of a guy promoting music."
What: Todd Rundgren in concert.
When: Doors open at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: The Edge, 260 California Ave., Palo Alto.
How much: Tickets are $12 advance.
Information: Call 324-EDGE. .