Infamous rap artist O.D.B. collapsed and died inside a Manhattan recording studio last Saturday at age 35. O.D.B., short for Ol’ Dirty Bastard, complained of chest pains before collapsing at the recording studio, and was dead upon arrival of paramedics, said Gabe Tesoriero, a spokesman for O.D.B.'s record label, Roc-a-Fella.

Amending its 45-year-old Gold and Platinum award program, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced the formal launch of the Digital Sales award. Developed to recognize the significant sales of the burgeoning digital music market, 45 titles were included in the initial group of certifications, encompassing tracks from each major recording company and representing almost every genre in music.

I recently took a trip to my old favorite record store, Aaron’s Records, on Highland Avenue in Hollywood. It is a truly great record store, loaded with import CDs, used CDs, vinyl (for those who dig that) and is still to this day staffed with people who truly love music. Take any one of Aaron’s staff, name a record you like and the Aaron’s employee can give you five good recommendations of other artists or recordings you might like. Websites like Amazon try to do this but somehow just fall short. Big record chains simply don’t care about anything other than taking orders for CDs and DVDs you already knew you wanted before you walked in the door.

Universal Music Group is reportedly in the final stages to purchase Roc-A-Fella Records and appoint Jay-Z President of Def Jam Recordings. According to The New York Times, Universal Music is anticipated to pay $10 million to acquire the Jay-Z and his partners at the successful Rock-A-Fella Records, which includes artists such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, DJ Clue and others. Jay-Z (née Shawn Carter) is also credited on collaborations with artists such as Beyonce in the hit single "Crazy In Love" and R. Kelly.

Mark David Chapman, the 49 year old man who murdered John Lennon, is up for parole again. He was denied parole in 2000 and 2002. Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, wrote a letter in protest to paroling Chapman saying that Lennon was a man who “brought light and hope to the whole world with his words and music.”