Pumpkins ask Virgin kindly to go away

While not wholly related to gaming, it must be said that we at EuroGamer can't get enough Napster controversy. The latest (and possibly greatest) coup for the North American music distribution service is the official release of The Smashing Pumpkins' new album Machina II: The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music exclusively on MP3. Described as a "final 'f**k you'" to record label Virgin, the album can be downloaded over Napster and on several selected music websites. According to CNet, there are only 25 Vinyl copies in existance. The Reg' believes this to be a sign of the times, stating that it's a new trend for disgruntled musicians to release their wares via MP3, but a forum post on the Smashing Pumpkins' UBB states that "the band instructed some of the recipients to circulate and distribute the material," and that they describe it as "an official bootleg". The big question on everyone's lips must be where do Virgin stand on this. It seems like they don't care. According to the FAQ again, "Virgin was not interested in releasing a followup to Machina, so rather than pack up their gear and go home, they recorded and released it themselves." As such it's less of a "f**k you" and more of a "I told you so" to the label, who presumably believed that the album would be unpopular if ever released. If you want the album, look it up on Napster, and you can take a look at the artwork that would accompany it here, in high quality PDF form. Grab this while you can, because as far as The Smashing Pumpkins are concerned, that's it.