THE POP LIFE; Hit Makers Warily Explore the Computer Frontier

When Geffen Records released the previously unavailable Aerosmith song "Head First" as a computer file on the Compuserve on-line network last month, it was heralded as a technological and commercial triumph. Compuserve subscribers with PC's were now able to download the song for free and listen to it at their leisure.

But some hackers are wondering just whose side Geffen is on. Where other on-line songs that are just as long as the 3-minute-14-second "Head First" take less than 10 minutes to download, or transfer into a sound file, it takes from 60 minutes to several hours to download the Aerosmith song, depending on the speed of the modem being used.

At stake may be nothing less than the future of the record business. If songs are available free through a computer's phone line, this leaves record labels, manufacturers and retailers out in the cold. The current state of technology makes it impractical in terms of time and computer storage space to download an entire CD, but several computer companies are working to remedy the matter. More urgent is the matter of copyright. On the vast information network known as Internet, music fans have been making songs by popular acts available free for some time. Several major recording labels are in the process of deciding whether they will lobby for copyright protection on Internet.

"Head First" is significant because it is the first song by a major rock band released exclusively via computer. While Aerosmith will receive no royalty or profit from the song, not everyone thinks the gesture is altruistic.

"What Geffen is trying to do, quite clearly," said Tim Nye, who operates the on-line alternative music service SonicNet, "is convince the public that the technology isn't there to make this a viable way of distributing music." Mr. Nye said it should take no more than 40 minutes to download the song.

Luke Wood, the marketing director at Geffen, agreed that "people are starting to understand the problems of this technology" because of the difficulties in downloading "Head First." But he denied that the company had willfully extended the song's downloading time. "I think we're trying to embrace this technology instead of turn people away," he said.

The downloading time is so long, Mr. Wood said, because the quality of sound being offered is so high: the company has used a stereo, direct digital copy of the song as opposed to the less-fidelity-conscious transfers other companies have used. Nonetheless, because "Head First" will no longer be in digital format after being downloaded (digital information cannot be transferred over telephone lines), what computer users hear is what Geffen Records calls a "broadcast-quality" version, similar to what it would sound like on the radio.

"We did it because it can be done and is cool and is fun," Mr. Wood said, "but also to show there's these other issues involved, like how do you collect copyright fees?" Matchmaker, Matchmaker

Bill Laswell is a world-music marriage broker. The producer, bassist and longtime New York fixture brought Herbie Hancock together with the Gambian griot Foday Musa Suso; he put Bootsy Collins, who used to play bass in the 1970's Parliament and Funkadelic bands led by George Clinton, on record with the Jamaican duo Sly & Robbie, and he recently paired the free jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders with Moroccan Gnawa musicians.

"All that stuff is really just getting people to a place where they've already been," Mr. Laswell said recently in a telephone interview from his Brooklyn studio. "Pharoah, when he was in his 20's, played music that to me sounded pretty ancient. So to hear him with people that actually play ancient music is no different."

Mr. Collins, speaking on the phone from his Cincinnati studio, said: "Bill's hooked into the universe, and to me that's a bigger bank to be tapped into than some of the stuff I've done before. Once we get more information, we can dip and dab the stuff everywhere."

Recently, Mr. Laswell has been playing mix-and-match with seminal 1970's and up-and-coming 90's musicians. The first five CD's in his Black Arc series were released last month by Rykodisc. His Hardware group joins the drummer Buddy Miles with Mr. Collins and the guitarist Steve Salas; the down-and-dirty rap project O. G. Funk reunites four former Funkadelic members and tosses in the early 80's rapper Melle Mel for spice. And the hard-core funk group Slavemaster joins the 23-year-old bassist Islam Shabazz with the former Parliament guitarist Michael Hampton and Mackie, who plays drums with the Rastifarian punk group the Bad Brains.

"Black Arc came about like anything else," Mr. Laswell said. "I was just trying to find a way to do things with people who didn't always have the opportunity to fulfill certain potentials that were in their music. I wanted to put them in one place, let them develop naturally and be with each other."

Included in this series is a new album by Mr. Collins, released under the pseudonym Zillatron. Mr. Collins believes he has found an ideal musical mate in Mr. Laswell. "Bill kind of knows me better than I know myself," Mr. Collins said. "I think Bill and myself is the perfect hookup for now, just like George Clinton and myself was the perfect hookup for then."

Mr. Laswell, who has produced albums by artists like Mick Jagger, Motorhead and Iggy Pop over the last 15 years, is not one to sit around and watch his projects sink or swim in the marketplace. He's producing a record by Painkiller, the John Zorn-led band in which he plays bass; he's forming a band with the guitarist James (Blood) Ulmer; he's collaborating with Pete Namlook, a prolific German musician who makes ambient dance music; he's producing a reunion album by the funk legends the Ohio Players, and he's remixing countless albums and singles of ambient music, many of which will be released on labels he founded.

Friends of Mr. Laswell's describe him as a workaholic who lets nothing get in the way of a good idea -- well, almost nothing. "Death is really the only obstacle that I can't get out of the way," Mr. Laswell said. "I've lost a lot of projects because the musicians I've been working with have died. The rest of it can be dealt with. Even with time, you try to forget that it's there." Big Names, Big Numbers

Several concert industry records are going to be shattered this year, says Gary Bongiovanni, the editor of Pollstar, a concert trade journal. Pollstar recently compiled concert industry grosses for the first half of 1994. On top was Pink Floyd, which grossed $83.1 million in 46 shows. With a dozen shows remaining, said Mr. Bongiovanni, Pink Floyd is likely to break the Rolling Stones' record gross for a single North American tour, which was $98 million in 1989. Barbra Streisand had the second-top-grossing tour, taking in $49.7 million in 16 shows. Ms. Streisand recently had a record gross for a single run at one venue, taking in $16.6 million for her sold-out seven-night stand at Madison Square Garden.

To date, 1990 was the concert industry's highest grossing year, with $1.1 billion accumulated in ticket sales from touring acts. This year, Mr. Bongionvanni predicts, a record will be set. "There's a lot of business left to come this summer," he said. "We're only two-thirds through our peak period."

Other top-grossing tours of the year to date are the Eagles, with $23.2 million; Billy Joel, with $18.9 million; the Grateful Dead, $17.6 million; Rod Stewart, $14.8 million, and Rush, $14.4 million.