Hole singer Courtney Love and her band hope to set an example for other artists by breaking away from major labels and releasing music online, Love said on Tuesday.

"I'm leaving the major-label system, and there are hundreds of artists who are watching my court case and are going to follow me," Love said in a speech at the Digital Hollywood conference in New York. "Everybody that I talk to, from Sheryl Crow to Beck to Beastie Boys -- there isn't anybody that isn't watching my case... and not really excited about what's going to happen."

In January, Geffen Records sued Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson for breach of contract, claiming Hole can't walk away from the label until the band has delivered five more albums (see "Hole Sued By Geffen Records For Breach Of Contract"). A Geffen spokesperson did not return calls for comment. Love said at the conference that she had no intention of settling the suit.

"I'm gonna go ahead with it," she said. "Usually what happens... is that [artists] get offered tons and tons of money... to shut up and stay [in] the system," she said. "I don't want their money. I would rather cause some trouble... and try and do this."

In January, Love told MTV News' Chris Connelly that she had "resigned" from Geffen, explaining, "It's something you can do in California. Despite whatever they [at the label] say, don't believe the hype" (see "Courtney Love Crunches Numbers To Explain Label Rift").

On Wednesday, Love said her band is in talks with online companies and is in the meantime using its new official Web site (www.holemusic.com) -- which began as a fan site -- to communicate with fans.

Late last year, Hole posted an MP3 file of the single "Be A Man" on the site, which had a different address at the time (see "Hole, L.L. Cool J Shoot Videos For 'Any Given Sunday'").

Love, who was dressed casually in gray slacks and a brown blouse, spoke for almost an hour at the online-entertainment conference, reading from notes. She blasted the music industry throughout her speech, accusing it of drowning out her favorite acts -- who she said include rockers Sleater-Kinney and singer/songwriter Cat Power -- in favor of "crap."

The singer was preceded at the podium by veteran newscaster Sam Donaldson, who recently began a Web cast news program. "They said, 'You'll be on the same platform as Courtney Love.' I said, 'I'm there,'" Donaldson said, joking.

Hole is working on material for its fourth album, the follow-up to 1998's "Celebrity Skin."