The Smashing Pumpkins’s  Billy Corgan has attacked how the music industry works, saying it "operates on a dumbing down principle". 

He claimed that, apart from Radiohead, few bands get to keep their intelligence if they wish to be successful.
Corgan said: "It's incredible to me how sophisticated people really are when you give them the opportunity to be sophisticated. The music business essentially operates on a dumbing down principle. How dumb do we have to go to sell this record to the most amount of people?"

Asked if there were any exceptions, he said: "There are very few bands who are able to keep their intelligence on record, Radiohead are a good example. They have a very high message and are still very popular. But for the most part the charts are dominated by music that's essentially dumbed down in melody, style, tone, texture, and message because it reaches the most amount of people."

He added: "'I think with where I am now I don't want to be dumbed down. I just think that's the worst thing for rock and roll."