Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan says iTunes, Facebook "killing rock"

Have you ever heard of the old adage about the dog that bites the hand that feeds it? Someone should share that age-old wisdom with Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins. Speaking to the Antiquiet, Corgan laments the pacification of the current generation of musicians who are happy to cuddle up with iTunes and not kick in their own door by embracing a movement and doing something radical like Nirvana or the Clash.

Corgan also blasts Facebook and says it stifles free thought because musicians are weary of dealing with all the negative comments. "You've got a Facebook with a few hundred friends. If you do something truly radical, are you ready to withstand the forty negative comments?," Corgan asks. "Most people aren't. So they're getting peer pressured at levels they don't even realize," he adds.

Ironically, his comments, come at a time when his long-absent band launches a comeback album that's featured on the iTunes Store and available for free streaming before its official release.