Who guitarist Pete Townshend appears to have launched a scathing attack on companies who offer people music downloads – calling the process “heartless”.

Although he is quoted as saying that the idea behind companies like iTunes is “brilliant”, he said he prefers to buy music on CD.

"iTunes simply doesn't have heart. It is software attached to a bank, nothing more, nothing less.

“Brilliant, but heartless,” he told World Entertainment News.

Last week, Townshend spoke out about the future of The Who, saying he didn't know whether he could continue to write songs for the band.

"I don’t know if I can come up with some idea, some story, some angle, that will make me feel good about being the writer for the Who,” he said.

“Most important of all, I don’t know if I write something whether I should try to force the Who to carry it.”

(by Jason Gregory)