Devin Townsend: If ‘Empath’ Loses a Ton of Money, I Won’t Be Able to Continue

It would appear that Devin Townsend spent a whole lot of dough recording his latest project, Empath, the prolific musician's upcoming album. In fact, in his characteristically self-deprecating demeanor, he took to Twitter to let fans know he spent $170,000 of his money on the effort due tomorrow (March 29).

Townsend, who said he's resigned himself to fears of music piracy, urged listeners to purchase the forthcoming release. Previous quotes from the musician have portrayed an indifferent attitude toward piracy. However, as explained by the artist, he still relies on album sales to continue his career.

"Here’s the thing," Townsend wrote. "I spent 170k of my own money on the album and the label have spent a ton ... I would never tell people what to do or not to do, I’m happy to just be allowed to do what I do."

He continued, "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."

Ahead of the new album's release, Townsend issued the tunes "Genesis" and "Evermore," the latter single accompanied by an equally expansive, animated music video. But don't let the musician's carefree creativity deter you from buying Empath. As he described of the situation, his art has to thrive along with commerce in order for him to carry on.

"My biggest problem is that I hate money," he added, while asking fans to purchase the album. "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."

Read Townsend's tweets below.

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