In yet another stunning tribute to the warmth and goodwill which so often characterize the relationships between record labels and musicians, alt-rockers Smashing Pumpkins are taking Virgin Records to court on breach-of-contract charges. The Pumpkins say that Virgin is within its rights to sell digital downloads of the band’s material. However, they claim the label went beyond the pale when it started linking the band to promotions for Amazon.com and Pepsi Co., and act which it says damages its artistic integrity and which it would not approve no matter who wished to do it. It’s asking for any allegedly ill-gotten profits from use of its band brand, plus an injunction to cease and desist the practice.
RBR/TVBR observation: And we’re sure that the labels simply cannot wait to line the pockets of their stable of musicians just as soon as they start collecting royalties from radio stations. It won’t occur to them to extract gargantuan manufacturing, marketing, promotional and administrative fees out of the royalty pot before finding a few pennies to pass on to the talent. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
