The Smashing Pumpkins’ new rock opera ATUM, which released May 5th, very nearly was leaked 6 months early by hacker. Billy Corgan discussed the situation on Audacy’s Klein. Ally. Show. and recounted how the hacker convinced him to pay a hefty ransom.
According to Stereogum, Corgan explained that a fan informed him that nine of the opera’s songs had leaked, all being “the most catchy, single-y type songs.” Corgan said “Somehow, some hacker was offering the files for money, and we were able to trace it, and pay off, and keep it from leaking… and the FBI got involved.” The payment came from “my pocket, unfortunately.”
Corgan explained that he was surprised at just how much the hacker was able to obtain. “They strangely had stuff… I don’t know how they got what they got.” When it came to stopping the leak, he elaborated that “What we were able to do was stop the leak from happening. It was a mercenary person who would hack somebody… they had stuff from other artists. It wasn’t some Pumpkins fan… and somehow they gave some information that allowed the FBI to track them.”
Corgan believes that the hacker’s operation has come to an end. He said that “I don’t know the end result of it yet. They had stuff that was shocking to me, classic stuff from bands in the past probably doing re-issues. I don’t think any of that stuff’s leaked out, so whatever happened it all got shut down.”
Listen to Corgan discuss the event below.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
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