• Artists on MP3.com Continue to Infiltrate Hollywood Soundtracks
• Run Dmc Getting Help With Comeback
• Rapper Tupac Putting Out A New Album

Artists on MP3.com Continue to Infiltrate Hollywood Soundtracks

"15 Minutes," "Bar Hopping" and CBS Among Those Utilizing Online Talent Pool

Anthony Marinelli (www.mp3.com/anthonymarinelli), an artist on MP3.com (Nasdaq: MPPP), is one of many whose music is becoming the standard for Hollywood soundtracks. Marinelli created pieces for "15 Minutes," the recent Robert De Niro film. His classic operatic tracks also have been heard in "Time Code," Internal Affairs" and "Flynn," which earned Marinelli a nomination for best score by the Australian Film Institute.

Another successful artist on MP3.com, Hypnogaja (www.mp3.com/Hypnogaja), a genre-bending techno band, also has broken Hollywood's barrier with its self-described pop/funk opus track, "One More Tear." The track received airplay in John Travolta's film "Bar Hopping," slated to air four times this month on The Movie Channel.

Other tracks by Hypnogaja have been featured in film and TV projects. The electric-funk sound of "So Sweet" was used in the Warner Bros. film "Valentine," starring David Boreanaz, and "Blame It On The Full Moon," a classic guitar ballad, which appeared in the MTV series "Live Through This."

Music supervisors continue to turn to MP3.com's vast talent base as evidenced by CBS' David Copperfield special "Tornado of Fire," which showcased the talent of James Grote (www.mp3.com/SongsForDeathmatch), an artist with a flair for doomy-metallic guitar riffs. Grote said, "My musical tastes are pretty varied, but I generally like intense, dark music, be it Nine Inch Nails or Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring.'"

These success stories indicate a growing trend that sees music supervisors and others looking to the Internet to fulfill soundtrack and music-score needs.

"The success of these artists really comes as no surprise," said Michael Robertson, chairman and chief executive officer of MP3.com (www.mp3.com). "There is tremendous talent to be found online and more industry decision-makers are discovering this resource. It's gratifying to see artists work to promote themselves and end up in the big show." A number of partnerships between artists on MP3.com and the entertainment industry are facilitated by MP3.com's Music Licensing Program (www.mp3.com/licensing), designed to match content from digital artists and composers on the site with producers, directors, advertising agencies and music supervisors actively looking to license music for traditional or multimedia productions. The program allows artists and composers the option to maintain complete control over the rights to their music.

Eligible artists can enroll in the program at www.mp3.com/licensing. The Music Licensing Program is run in association with MP3.com's licensing services provider, enableyourmusic, Inc. (http://eym.enableyourmusic.com/).

There are more than 144,000 digital artists who currently post music on MP3.com. To register to post your music on the site at no cost, visit www.mp3.com/newartist.

Run Dmc Getting Help With Comeback

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY AP Music Writer

Run DMC have never been shy about emphasizing their importance in the rap world.

The hip-hop pioneers are quick to boast about the millions of records they've sold, how they took rap mainstream with hits like "It's Tricky," and how they basically started the whole rap-rock fusion genre, most notably with their smash collaboration with Aerosmith on "Walk This Way."

But even the "Kings of Rock," as they like to call themselves, know that legend won't get them too far among today's rap fans, who know more lyrics from newcomers like Lil' Bow Wow or Ludacris than any of the groundbreaking raps Run DMC recited.

So as they attempt a comeback with their new album, "Crown Royal," the once mighty rap pioneers are willingly sharing the spotlight with today's current hitmakers, hoping collaborations with artists like Kid Rock, Method Man, Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst and R&B group Jagged Edge will help them capture the attention of today's music fans.

"We're a nonentity until we drop a hit record, and that's the bottom line," said Joseph Simmons, better known as DJ Run. "I think all the rappers, they look up to us ... if we come through and do something big, it makes them look up to us even more."

Although the trio of DJ Run, Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell) and DMC (Darryl McDaniels) have stayed in the public eye over the years with a heavy tour schedule and the occasional commercial, they haven't made an impact on the charts for years. Their last album, 1993's "Down With the King," was certified gold, but hardly made the splash of albums released during their peak, such as the multiplatinum "Raising Hell" in 1986.

Like the majority of rap's early performers, Run DMC watched their celebrity diminish as the genre exploded in popularity, producing numerous stars whose albums routinely sell millions of copies . artists like DMX, Eminem, Jay-Z and Dr. Dre.

But instead of growing bitter about their declining role, Simmons decided to recapture it with an approach similar to Santana, who sold millions of copies of 1999's "Supernatural" in part because of collaborations with younger artists such as matchbox twenty's Rob Thomas and Wyclef Jean.

"We incorporated ourselves and injected ourselves into the young people through being down with the young people," said Simmons. "Truthfully, the whole album is full of youth. The oldest people on the album is us."

While it may end up winning Run DMC some new fans, the strategy cost them artistically. McDaniels, fed up with the Simmons' and Mizell's desire to capture the youth market, left the project and is barely heard on any of the tracks, even though he is prominently featured on the album's cover and is participating in their current tour.

"He wants his record on the radio, he wants the hot video," McDaniels said of Simmons, his longtime friend. "And I'm not really about that anymore."

McDaniels, who like his partners is 36 and married with children, said he was frustrated that he wasn't allowed to showcase his personal and musical evolution on the album, released this week. For example, instead of boasting about his rap skills, he'd rather talk about his life as a parent. And he'd rather rap to music that sounds like Bob Dylan than DMX.

"Right now I'm in a more mellow mode," he said. "And wherever you are at in life, especially if you are a musician or an artist, those things must be reflected in the music, and some of the things I wanted to say on the album, it was like, 'D., you can't say that."'

Producer-rapper Jermaine Dupri, one of the many stars on the album, says McDaniels' limited role takes away from the group's attempted comeback.

"I think it's a big loss," he said. "I think DMC played a very, very big role. From a creative side, I think there was so much more that could have been done if DMC was around."

Yet Dupri, who helped jump-start a Run DMC comeback last year by tapping Simmons to rap on the remix of the Jagged Edge hit "Let's Get Married," believes the album can still be a success, although he admits it will be an uphill battle.

Even Simmons, brother of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, acknowledges it will be tough.

"We're going to have to make a hell of an explosion for everybody to look," he said. "I think it is a battle to get a Run DMC smash."

Rapper Tupac Putting Out A New Album

Tupac Shakur has an album at the top of the Billboard 200 chart, more than four years after his death.

The murdered rap star's "Until the End of Time," his double album of material written and performed in the last year of his life, enters Billboard at No. 1 after selling nearly 427,000 copies, according to SoundScan. It was released on the Amaru/Death Row/Interscope label.

In an interview on "Access Hollywood" Thursday night, Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, said, "It is our complete intent to put out all of his work. "I think people are going to be surprised by Tupac for a long time. In November, we will put out another double compact disc. If Tupac were here, he would have produced three times that much material." Shakur was shot in a barrage of gunfire in 1996. No one has been arrested for his slaying.