A member of the Pho mailing list has an interesting question: how many bands there are in the US? signed, unsigned, garage bands, whatever? What do you think? Make your estimates in the comments section and give your rationale. I think 1% of the country is in a band, divided …

We’ve had a tremendous first week here on Blogcritics, with excellent link penetration and over 40,000 pageviews: averaging almost 6,000 per day. Don’t forget to mention the Ira Robbins online interview coming up Thursday. Also, don’t forget to add Blogcritics.com to your permanent blogroll. Thanks for all of your help.

More proof of the viability of the web as a primary marketing tool: Targeting a legion of online music fans, the latest video from multi-platinum, Grammy award winner Eminem will make its exclusive world premiere today on RollingStone.com , the Internet’s leading authority on music news and popular culture. The …

Thanks to you all for making the first week of Blogcritics.com a rousing success. We had excellent traffic, links from around the world and down your street, and very good response from the record labels as well. We should start to have new CDs for you to review shortly. I …

Via Rock and Rap Confidential: An important new film: “The Ultimate Song” “If musicians could help put an end to poverty, that would be the ultimate song.”–Fredo Ballesteros, Boxing Gandhis Rock A Mole Productions has just finished a documentary film, The Ultimate Song, that highlights the great importance of music …

New Jersey rockers frown upon Penn bar: “The Boss” doesn’t hit town on tour until December, but a lawsuit filed on behalf of Bruce Springsteen and rocker Jon Bon Jovi has already arrived in federal court. The rockers, both members of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, are …

Neil Strauss takes on the rise and relative fall of the Backstreet Boys in the NY Times: THE Backstreet Boys have sold more than 65 million albums around the world, a number that few pop acts have surpassed. In their prime, in the 90’s, they were a pop juggernaut, breathing …

Jeff Jarvis thinks he knows why satellite radio is having trouble: : It’s still not clear whether the Web is meant to be free. Hell, it’s still not clear what the Web is meant to be. But our expectations of free v. fee are quite clear for other media — …

Kevin Marks: Do you know why the RIAA call copying files without their permission ‘piracy’? Back in the 1960s, radio in the UK was completely run by the BBC, the state-licensed monopoly broadcaster. The way round this was to broadcast from outside the UK, after the fashion of Radio Luxembourg. …

It’s been 25 years since Elvis died on the toilet, a big fat freak of 42. He was an old man, but two years younger than I am now. Think about this: Elvis has been dead longer than his career lasted, and I’m including the crappy 70s. Yet the King …