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The Smashing Pumpkins Tickets

The Smashing Pumpkins' frontman Billy Corgan has declared that the music industry has been "taken over by poseurs".

The singer spoke out at a public address for this year's SXSW festival.

"I was part of a generation that changed the world - and it was taken over by poseurs," he said. "Artists that break through now have grown up thinking that being famous if the goal. Not to be respected - not to be dangerous."

He also commented on the rapid rise and spectacular backlash against American starlet Lana Del Rey, using her much-criticised performance at Saturday Night Live to bolster his argument. Corgan told the audience: "It doesn't surprise me that she crashed and burned, because she wasn't ready for it."

Corgan also claimed in his talk that if he were starting his career today, he would need to "set fire to myself on YouTube" to get noticed, and also compared being a breakthrough artist to being a "fresh stripper."

The Smashing Pumpkins' frontman is set to have a busy 2012, releasing the band's new album 'Oceania' later this year. This will be their first studio album since "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope" in 2009.

Meanwhile, Corgan stays busy opening Teahouses across Chicago and manages his own professional wrestling company.