I like your intuition, man. Just keep doing what your doing (making records, band improvements, you name it), and as long as you keep your eyes open and looking, the right management will definitely show up for the job, and you'll take 'em, hook line and sinker. If you plan for it to work out well in the end, then without a doubt, you'll find a way to make it happen, no matter what little things pop up along the way.

To me, it almost sounds like the potential managements you've been sorta in contact with are just lazy, because if they were smart, then like you said, they should jump all over the opportunities you've got for them, rather than tell you that you've got too many ideas. Before they know it, somebody good is gonna jump in and take over management, and those other guys are gonna miss out on a big opportunity.

Regardless, keep on rockin'! I'm all sorts of jacked up about the upcoming records and box set

This (most important thing):

Just keep doing what your doing (making records, band improvements, you name it), and as long as you keep your eyes open and looking, the right management will definitely show up for the job, and you'll take 'em, hook line and sinker.

And this:

Regardless, keep on rockin'! I'm all sorts of jacked up about the upcoming records and box set

I don't see why these people aren't simply honored by being offered to manage such a great artist and human being (probably).
I have a certain feeling that when Dev climbs 45, he will be a well-known musician and producer, touring places regularly all over the world

Thinking positive is the main thing one can do, rest will follow if enough effort has been put into it. Which I don't doubt at all in Dev's case. We're with you, man.

In the six months or so that I've known of you, it's transparently clear that you're a "natural" entertainer, and a VERY good one at that.
You know yourself that the music industry is almost a dying one, and if these "manager" types are losing faith in it, then fuck em'. At the end of the day, they're only looking for a fast n' easy buck...4 or 6 record deal, then they'll bin you.
Take Peavey for instance, a company that thinks long term, turn around and make a guitar for a guy that hardly sells any records. Brave move on their part, but then they're not a company that fucks about.
No I've got faith Dev....it really is just a matter of time before something REALLY fucking big happens, and the whole 'Devin Townsend' thing is really going to kick off.........Then you can bask in the satisfaction and glory.
You believe in kama and all that right..."nice to be nice", "what goes around, comes around"
Fret not Cuntieballs, your fan base is growing by the day, and as I mentioned before it's only a matter of time.

Well, one of the 'stresses' during this time (if I may be so bold to complain somewhat...) is I have parted ways with my manager of 10 years. I too believe that there is a TON of potential, and I've always been left scratching my head as to why things continue to move laterally. And in many cases, lose money. So I made a big decision in my world after Finland for many reasons, and I have been looking for new management.

And I'll tell you, trying to convince potential managers that you 'have what it takes' on many levels, and that 'it just needs to get in front of the right people' is easier said than done. I have 8 people 'interested' yet most of them still aren't returning calls or haven't got their proposals in (4 weeks after meetings) I don't get it. I believe I'm able to say... 'look, I've got 15 records I own the rights to, 2 more coming out in March, a ton of live stuff stockpiled, 15 different 'brands' to merchandise, Ziltoid, Rockband, a great band thats willing to tour 6 months of the year, an acoustic sideline, a studio, I can do video, I'm a reasonably entertaining personality, Peavey is doing a signature guitar, and I basically have the best 'fanbase' a dude could ask for...lets do this. Show me a plan, because I have a symphony in mind next...'

And the response I get is 'We don't really think you know what you want...'

And I feel like 'I JUST TOLD YOU!! Lets ROCK MAN!!!'

Things are in relative shambles right now truth be told, we're holding it together for the US tour and the ViP tickets have helped buffer the reality of a money losing tour, but it's confusing to me... sometimes I feel like I'm making a real nice dinner and presenting it to people who only know how to sell cheeseburgers and they're like... 'wtf am I supposed to do with that?'

ugh...

But honestly, 'giving up' is not even a remote blip on the radar, it would just make it EASIER to focus if someone who UNDERSTANDS and has serious connections would be like 'what the fuck are we waiting for? there's a million opportunities here, lets do as many as we can with the intention of making tons of interesting, cool music... lets tour it too...and lets make the show amazing! here's a bunch of money so you don't have to mix some bands album while writing'

Sadly, so far (although I'm only a month into the search) it's: 'we only sell cheeseburgers, and your food is really weird...maybe we'll let you be involved with us for 20% of gross, we'll get back to you when we feel like it'

My gut tells me to hold on though, and not to settle this time...keep my shit together, make these two killer, killer records and keep getting the band tighter and the right things will happen.

Again, couldn't do it without you guys, thanks.

Oh and btw... being a Dad on top of this is a ballcrusher. But all in all, I'm thoughroughly 'blessed' (in the strictest agnostic sense) and I love my life.

This along with being a "small fry" within a larger label has me thinking the question: why not move to a smaller label that better understands you and has a more receptive audience?

My wife just signed her first book(s) deal with a publisher that has a focus on a smaller, specific demographic rather than a mega book publisher who would struggle to remember her name. She was chatting with a friend who is signed to Tor Books and while he may get bigger advances they don't really care all that much about him. I know Century Media and Inside Out are big lables with deep pockets but if they struggle to fit your square music into their round demographic then maybe a smaller label who "gets it" may give you a better return for your dollar.

I think the least we can do as fans is to continue plugging Dev's music and buying his merch. I know it's stating the obvious but it really must make a big difference.

Dev, that post makes me sad

............and a little mad

Fingers crossed you start talking to some people with better taste

Dev, that post makes me sad

Same here. It's a real shame.

Dev, that post makes me sad

Same here. It's a real shame.

Couldn't agree more.

I'm a filmmaker and you should consider trying to get into that end of things. I was on a film-music seminar about 9 months ago and learnt a lot about that type of work - it seems very lucrative for composers after a period of struggle and some luck. Getting the first gig is the hardest apparently! I think it's an area where some of your perceived disadvantages from potential managers could work to your advantage; your range of styles, flexibility as a composer/musician, owning your own studio with the ability to do everything(!) and your creative prolificness would help get wider exposure across a better demographic. I hope you always stay 'metal' in as much as I'd label Ki a metal album but I think your playing to the metal-crowd with festival tours and advertising in metal mags and so forth will have very minimal impact on gaining ground. I'm 33 and buy albums but young metal folks will generally and nearly always download music illegally so I suspect your approach is somewhat similar to pissing up a rope. People generally don't like downloading 1GB of a film the way they'll happily download 100MB of music so there's more secured royalties involved that could be small or in the millions. DVDs are very cheap to buy in comparsion to CDs, have a wealth of extras and aren't meant to be experienced on you-tube - get your music to latch onto that. I've just finished directing and producing a feature film where the music was done by an established 'metal-friendly' musician/company who would sell albums of the same figures as you (~20K). I gave them about 2K euros to composer a very minimalistic score of 15 mins (although they delivered 30 mins worth at no extra cost) and the music was done in about 3 weeks from composing to delivery. The money was low because the budget was tiny and they'd never worked on a film before, also a chunk of that 3 weeks was actually technical problems as I'm Irish and they're based in another country so there was a steep learning curve both ends but I'm sure next time they could get that right down. Anyway, they keep the music copyright so will earn some amount of money through any festival screenings, they done a small run of CDs which I believe they licensed to some bigger distribution company and got more money from that also. More importantly, everyone who has seen the film to date has inquired about the music and these people know nothing about anything remotely metal related. Given the keyboard/piano based score many where shocked that it came from a company associated with 'satan music'. It opened their eyes to something they would've never hear before. The film is just finished a week and already for them there's been a number of little positives which hopefully will grow if the film is any good. But if the film does nothing (which is very possible), they've still got a wealth of creative and technical experience doing a film score, got over 2K euros, and something to act as a showreel so now have more leverage getting involved in bigger productions who can offer a decent or even fair amount of money. Alternatively, you could just license some of your music (released or in storage) for film projects and have some of the same benefits with the minimum of work. That particular license is called a synchronisation license.

PM me if you've any questions but unfortunately I don't know any big-dicks in the movie industry!! It is something you should try to explore. From what you say this music industry sounds completely shit. I'd never envy a musician!! Stay strong!

Dev your honesty is always appreciated. that makes me wish i was a manager... and had money ha.

it may be somewhat comforting to know that most of your shows have sold out already (which sucks for me cuz i tried switching to CT instead of NY ) and hey since you mentioned recouping money from the VIP thing, why such a limited amount of tickets? i would've loved to get 2 but those sold out really fast. maybe you could release a few more or something??? just a slightly selfish thought as i'm sure space/time is limited.

Comparing Dev to PJ is ludicris, they have had a solid team working for them for the better part of 20yrs. They manage the Pearl Jam Company. The success of 'ten' gave them a total blank cheque. I don't think, in any or all of Dev's whacked out styles, there is a remote chance of outselling 'ten' alone. Add to that the success of .VS and PJ could do whatever they wanted from that point forward. Dev's never going to reach those sales plateaus. It's just not possible.

wasn't trying to compare Dev to PJ per se, just making a point that it's frustrating how bands may come out with 2-3 killer albums and get worse and worse over time yet are still massively popular.

This makes me wish I had all the money in the world to help ya, Dev. Got a few dollahs left after buying the PXD Void III, though. Definately gonna buy all the merch I can afford.

Having that said, I just want to thank you so, so much for the way you treat us, your fans. Hell, it's like we're all friends. I don't see any other artists treating their fans like this, which in addition to a lot else, makes you my favorite artist of all time.

Keep it up, man! \m/

Totally hear you.

To be perfectly honest, each of my records sell about the same worldwide... between 15 and 20k ...again, worldwide. I think Addicted did 6k in the states, 2500 in Aus, 10 in Europe, 700 in Canada, 1000 in Japan etc...

And with the network I have, I really sell the same for every record, I think Ki did 15k worldwide. In perspective, I think DevilDriver's latest did 18k in the u.s alone in it's first week, Hellyeah did 28k (in the US first week)... so really, the incentive for labels and everyone to drop what they're doing and 'rock Devs newest record' is pretty small.

I haven't seen royalties for many years off of my solo stuff. The advertisement, videos, and recording budgets have yet to be recouped on most of them (if not all). But there's ways to make money. We do mailorder stuff, and cumulatively, there's lots of products to merchandise.

Again, all good, and I love doing music and 20k is way more than I ever expected.

You could move to Tokyo and hook up with Marty Friedman's management. Unless there is some kind of black magic involved, the management company must be outstanding. How else could you take a creampuff like Friedman and turn him into a media icon?
Seriously though, for more than a decade's worth of entertainment, if there is anything I can do while you are on tour, just name it. If you need a meal, hot shower, place to crash, whatever. Just for giving us OMFG to listen to for the last 14 yrs or so, it's the least I could do.
Of course, if Christeen isn't on the setlist for the N/A tour, then forget it. No soup for you!

I appreciate your honesty Dev. Sounds like a bummer of a situation to be in. Now you've maybe looked into this and I know nothing really but Opeths management seems good (from an outsiders perspective) and has got some respected prog/metal artist under it's wing. Might be worth a gander. www.northernmusic.co.uk/

[Octillus]

As others have said, we have your back.

Admittedly all the shining optimism is rather tart and makes my stomach want to heave, but in this case it seems like it's the best bet.

There are people who are waiting like zombies for Deconstruction. I'm probably buying more than one copy of ghost for folks who liked the acoustic concert I got to go to.

This tour is going to kick ass, and you are mighty.