News …

MTV Networks teams with MySpace to cash in on user-uploaded videos – Los Angeles Times (registration may be required)

As the economy goes down, heavy metal sales go up. Will AC/DC head up the soundtrack for the world’s economic crisis? – The Times Online U.K.

Drum maker / folk musician dies after inhaling anthrax spores believed to have been imported animal skins used to make drum heads – BBC News

Playing live is still a rush for Coldplay bassist – Boston Herald / The Edge

Who will protect the legacy of the Great American Song Book? The New York Sheet Music Society steps up to the challenge – The New York Times (registration may be required)

Russian master violinist hangs himself after fake Stradivarius racket exposed – The Scotsman U.K.

Views …

Jason Aldean in Dekalb, Illinois – “Aldean deserves to be nominated for CMT’s “Best New Artist of the Year” because of performances like this concert.” – The Northern Star

Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman in Maryland – “The best moments of the evening came when Smith and Chapman shared the stage, providing backing vocals to each other’s hits, covering each other’s oldies and duetting on contemporary worship standards like ‘Blessed Be Your Name’ and Chris Tomlin’s ‘How Great Is Our God.'” Washington Blade / Blade Blog

Boz Scaggs in Seattle – “Looking and sounding great in his mid-60s, Scaggs covers a blues-to-Broadway batch of tunes at Jazz Alley.” – The Seattle Times

Janet Jackson in NYC – “She strutted through a full-tilt arena spectacle like those she has mounted since her multimillion-selling days in the 1980s and ’90s, with dancers, video screens, pyrotechnics and lip-synching.” – The New York Times (registration may be required)

Bob Dylan in Regina, Saskatchewan – “Though Dylan only removed himself from his organ and positioned himself in front of his band a handful of times, it was impossible to not be drawn to him.” – Regina Leader-Post / Canada.com

Milton Nascimento in Berkeley, California – ” … the 90-minute show unfolded like an evening with old friends sitting around a piano sharing songs as they celebrated the 50th anniversary of the bossa nova.” – San Francisco Chronicle / SFGate

They Say It’s Their Birthday … (Or so says Associated Press)

Lulu is 60

Adam Ant is 54

C.J. Pierce (Drowning Pool) is 36