I don't know but it does seem like a lot more then normal... but I'm also young.

How would anyone know that answer? It certainly is not more than normal though. The media now a days is everywhere and any little tidbit is announced ad nauseum. You are hearing a barage of newscasts from paper, internet, tv, and magazines for starters. Even a few decades ago a death was not met with this much media coverage.

I think it is close to normal. As I get older, I tend to notice it more because a lot of those people dying are my age or younger. (That certainly makes you take notice!) I think the "baby boomer" generation brought with it a flourish for the arts, so there is a chance that there are simply more actors and musicians at one time than before, with the possible exception of the depression era.

Most likely you just started to pay attention to the death rolls and there hasn't been a spike in the death tolls worldwide. But let's look at the numbers anyway. The names are from Wikipedia Let's start here - October 10, 2009 * Luis Aguilé, 73, Argentinian singer and songwriter, stomach cancer. [33] (Spanish) * Stephen Gately, 33, Irish pop singer (Boyzone), pulmonary oedema. [34] * Larry Jansen, 89, American baseball player (New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds). [35] * Veronika Neugebauer, 39, German actress, voice actress and singer. [36] (German) * Paz Rodríguez Ortiz, 66, Mexican human rights activist, shot. [37] (Spanish) * Lionel Pincus, 78, American businessman, founder of Warburg Pincus, after long illness. [38] * Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, 66, American psychologist, breast cancer. [39] Now let's go back six months to April 10 2009. * Richard Arnell, 91, British composer. [173] * Richard Fox Cartwright, 95, British Anglican prelate, Bishop of Plymouth (1972–1982). [174] * Blake Chanslor, 88, American businessman, founder of Blake's Lotaburger. [175] * Deborah Digges, 59, American poet, apparent suicide by jumping. [176] * Frank Morris, 85, Canadian football player and executive, after long illness. [177] * Naum Olev, 70, Russian lyricist. [178] (Russian) * Yevgeny Vesnik, 86, Russian actor, stroke. [179] Frankly I don't notice much change in a six month period.