Apple announced this morning that it had sold its 3 billionth song on iTunes (for those of you who have trouble doing missing-penny math, the $.99-per-song take on that is $2,970,000,000). As Ars Technica notes, the milestone follows recent news that Apple, which sells about 10 percent of all music in the U.S., is now the third-largest music retailer in the country -- it's ahead of Amazon.com and behind only Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

We were so bummed: Our golf tournament fundraiser - the event that was supposed to kick off our Nemo Fund for emergency medical costs - was cancelled when too few people signed up to play. Boo hoo!

It's hard to know if golfers aren't big on pit bulls, or maybe pit bull people just don't do golf? Or maybe we're just really bad at advertising?

No worries, because Heavy Metal came to the rescue last night. Five bands played their hearts out for the pit bulls at Gilman Street and donated all costs to the cause. By the time security kicked in their fees and show goers emptied their pockets, the Nemo Fund was alive and well. Woot!

Worhorse came up from Los Angeles to do their good deed. They were in the line up with Attack Disarm Takeover, Arise, Wendol and Chromium Six. Our deaf dog Honky Tonk had no complaints about the loud music - He loved it!

Many Web radio outfits feared closure as their legal fight against staggering new music royalty rates met failure this week. On Thursday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block the new rates, which are scheduled to go into effect Sunday. But as a result of public outcry -- which, in turn, sparked congressional outcry -- SoundExchange, the recording-industry group that collects royalties, has agreed not to immediately enforce the rates, pending negotiations with webcasters.

I just spoke to Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora, the hugely popular Internet radio station that allows people to create personalized music channels. I asked Westergren if Pandora will shut down Sunday: "No, we won't," he said.

Thursday's deal marks a sharp turnaround for SoundExchange, which told Wired News just hours before that the new online radio royalty rates are "etched in stone."

Observers credited lobbying by net radio listeners with helping bring pressure on SoundExchange. "This is a direct result of lobbying pressure, so if anyone thinks their call didn't matter, it did," said Westergren. "That's why this is happening."

The deal opens the door for longer-term solutions, including action from Congress. On Thursday, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) called parties representing record labels and webcasters before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to try to broker a deal that would allow online radio stations to survive in something similar to their current form, while still paying labels and artists their due.

The negotiations between SoundExchange and the webcasters now center on these rates -- and they're taking place, Westergren notes, "under the watchful eye of Congress." And that, he says, is the main news today. "The reason this deal is happening is because of congressional pressure, and congressional pressure is happening because of people calling in. Everybody needs to know that. A million people in the last three months have called Congress about this. And Congress has said, Look, if you don't solve this, we will. That's very explicit."

It was a historic moment, signifying a vast sea change: the death of the Hummer and the rebirth of Flower Power. Two billion fans, 130 countries, seven continents and Jon Bon Jovi can't be wrong.

Watching the Gore-backed, star-packed Live Earth festival -- which included televised, Web-streamed concerts in New York, London, Johannesburg, Rio De Janeiro, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney and Hamburg -- there was an overwhelming sense that one was seeing the better angels of the human spirit rise lotuslike through the mud and unfold into a better, sober, new counterculture based on a peace, love, understanding and eco-consciousness. Like the '60s, only without so much meth.... Even the perennially depressed Roger Waters from Pink Floyd was having such a good time he looked as guileless as a 10-year-old.

[...]

Alicia Keys, the breakaway star of the event, really torched the roof off with her Category 5, gale-force radiance. Great performing artists can maintain poise while seemingly losing all control: Keys literally quivers from the wild waves of super-soul rippling through her. Her backup vocals on "Gimme Shelter" redeemed the otherwise limp Keith Urban and, if hooked up to a generator, could have powered all of the dryers in Dubai.

[...]

The perennially ageless Sting bumped the mood back up, after his wife's gruesome news. The reformed Police were joined by a highly excited Kanye West in a duet that was actually moving, because it was sincerely felt:

"We can save the world!"
"Sending out an SOS..."
"We can save the world!"
"Sending out an SOS..."
"We can save the world!"

Counter-insurgency, Gen. Patraeus has said, is about capturing hearts and minds. There was simply no denying the infectious, unforced good feelings of Live Earth. You can only front for so long: Joy is real or it isn't. This was the kind of love-fest you can't buy or steal ... and even snarky reviews can't kill.