‘90s-rock icons Smashing Pumpkins have sued their formal label, Virgin (on which they put out their landmark Siamese Dreams and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness), for threatening their “artistic integrity” by licensing their music in a marketing campaign for “Pepsi Stuff.” The band claims that they’ve “worked hard for over two decades to accumulate a considerable amount of goodwill in the eyes of the public,” only to have that goodwill threatened by the PepsiCo/Amazon.com promotion.
‘90s-rock icons Smashing Pumpkins have sued their formal label, Virgin (on which they put out their landmark Siamese Dreams and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness), for threatening their “artistic integrity” by licensing their music in a marketing campaign for “Pepsi Stuff.” The band claims that they’ve “worked hard for over two decades to accumulate a considerable amount of goodwill in the eyes of the public,” only to have that goodwill threatened by the PepsiCo/Amazon.com promotion.
The terms of their contract with Virgin, which expired with the band’s break-up in 2000, included the permission to sell digital downloads from the Pumpkins’ back-catalogue, but not, band members claim, the right to use those downloads to promote other products. They reported that they would “never grant such authority to Virgin, or any other entity.” Art cred thus threatened, the band sued Virgin for the full profits earned via the promotion, plus an injunction against such use of their music in the future. Virgin has yet to respond to the suit.
Billy Corgan’s crew found themselves on the other side of controversy last year, when they released four different versions of their most recent album, Zeitgeist (on Reprise), through four different retailers. They are currently prepping an Australian tour in support of the release(s).