When Devin Townsend put the Devin Townsend Project on hiatus in early 2018, he revealed that financial reasons were part of the decision. While one would expect that operating in a solo capacity would streamline the budget, it would appear the creation of his new album “Empath” went in an opposite direction.
Townsend recruited a wealth of guests to assist him on the album, including Steve Vai, Nickelback‘s Chad Kroeger and more. He also enlisted the drumming services several musicians and more with sessions taking place across several studios internationally.
In a series of posts made via his Twitter today (March 27th) discussing the impact of piracy on music artists, he revealed that he wound up spending $170,000 of his own money on “Empath“. That record will be released this Friday, March 29th. Here’s what he had to say:
Hey all. There’s been some mails to me from people who rely on my work to pay the bills about my thoughts of piracy and downloading (1)
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) March 27, 2019
I feel it’s useless to fight leaks or streaming, in fact: many musicians who have done so appear petty or ungrateful. I feel resigned to it, and have probably said so in the past…
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) March 27, 2019
However there’s a bunch of folks who think what I meant by that was ‘I don’t need to sell these things, so go ahead and take it’ and I guess my quotes in the past would imply that.
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) March 27, 2019
Here’s the thing: I spent 170k of my own money on the album and the label have spent a ton on the peripheral part of it. I would never tell people what to do or not to do, I’m happy to just be allowed to do what I do…
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) March 27, 2019
But please know if it loses a ton, it simply won’t be able to continue. The label has gotten mails saying that I don’t care if it gets taken for free, which I guess I may have said in the past, but please know lots of people have invested lots into this and now I feel foolish.
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) March 27, 2019
Please support physical product if you can, I don’t care that it leaked, but if my prior actions or words justified that, then I have to retract whatever it is I said. I have a big mouth and I just like making tunes basically
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) March 27, 2019
Love to you all – Dumbass Townsend
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) March 27, 2019
I think my biggest problem is that I hate money, and I hate monetization of art. Yet the two have to coexist so I often have to do that stuff. I hope this makes an ounce of sense. I don’t give a shit, but I seriously need to give a shit.
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) March 27, 2019
For those confused: I re-signed my entire back catalog after it came up for renewal last year for 150k, then proceeded to spend 170 on my stupid record because I am a financial genius. :))
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) March 27, 2019
Comments