Extreme metal artist Devin Townsend has made a series of Twitter posts discussing his feelings on music piracy and his own financial investment into his later record Empath. In these Tweets Townsend rescinds some of his earlier comments on music piracy, while explaining that he sold off his back catalog for $150,000, while spending over $170,000 on the latest record.

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

In the past Townsend has made comments claiming that he does not care about illegal downloads nor piracy of his work. As an outspoken artist he has also stated things such as “download all my shit,” at shows, and has criticized many who go after streaming platforms.

I’m sure yelling ‘DOWNLOAD ALL MY SHIT’ from stage a dozen times didn’t help at all, but whatareyagonnado… 🙂

— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) March 27, 2019

He explains that his rationale for these behavior is due to the fact that he hates the “monetization of art.” Yet, although he despises the system for which he must sell his art, he understands that money is what allows him to continue making it

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

Townsend then goes on to explain that he may not continue to produce records for the label if it under performs because of the leak. He also states that many people put a lot of effort and time investment into the project.

“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,” Townsend later explained on Twitter. “I have a big mouth and I just like making tunes basically.”

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

Empath’s upcoming release has spawned several promotional videos including one for the track “Evermore,” and another for “Genesis.” Both music videos and singles were released earlier this year.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat