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.
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.
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
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.”
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
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