The business of "asset-backed" securities had begun getting creative long before the deal with Bowie. Britain's Punch taverns managed to float bonds collateralized by future beer sales. But no one had aced the intangible realm of intellectual property. Pullman foresees the securitization of everything from patents to screenplays.

A potential cloud over his hit parade is the Napster phenomenon. If people can get copyrighted material for free off the Internet, the bonds will be less valuable. But Pullman, 39, is confident that the entertainment and publishing industries will find some way to keep collecting money for their artists' work. His bigger problem may be maintaining his lead in selling Bowie-style bonds. He's in a legal battle with Prudential Securities and a company run by music-industry veteran Charles Koppleman, whom Pullman charges with trying to steal his ideas.

The New York City native, captain of his high school cross-country team and still a runner, intends to stay in his new business for the long haul—and keep moving it into new fields of artistic endeavor. "I would be bored doing something that's cookie cutter," Pullman says. To which the Isley Brothers might respond, "It's your thing. Do what you gotta do." Do you hear the music, Mr. King?