Indie artists already do this, so maybe he wants to be an indie artist rather than a commercial mainstream artist. That said though, it's much harder for the indie artist to actually get their music out there and be recognized due to lower-key marketing and self-promotion, so I'm not sure what he's complaining about. Very true. And likely some of it blows away his music Maybe that's what he's pissed about, haha.
Of course, RATM were signed to Epic for all their releases, who are one of the biggest record labels in the world. A decision De La Rocha defended at the time by remarking that there is no point having a political message if people don't hear it.
None of the savings of manufacturing, packaging and shipping a physical CD are passed to the consumer via itunes. Most of the time you're paying more for an inferior quality compressed mp3. Apple hordes most of the profits and the music industry barley exists anymore. I also do kind of agree with Corgan that the internet creates a kind of collective group think about things. Bands are either deemed good or bad based on internet consensus
Before the internet did that, MTV did that. Before MTV did that, radio did that. Not to mention the music press doing it all along: Rolling Stone, Cream, Spin, etc.
Yeah, if anything, the internet gives small and niche bands a platform to find an audience. A chance most of them never had before.