Chevelle Haven’t Made ‘Any Money’ From Selling 6 Million Albums

Chevelle guitarist and vocalist Pete Loeffler has stated that despite having sold 6 million albums, the veteran hard rock band has not received “any money” from those sales. They’re plotting their next move now that they’ve fulfilled their contract with record label Epic, who has released nine of their 10 full length records, in addition to two compilation releases as well as one live album.

The frontman spoke candidly on WEBN’s The KiddChris Show about Chevelle’s contract now reaching its end after delivering Niratias, their recently released album that cracked the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart. Loeffler contemplated what the future held for the group, rhetorically stating (transcription via Blabbermouth), “Where do we go now? Do we go back to being an indie band? I mean, that’s kind of cool. That sounds exciting. I don’t know. I don’t know where we’re gonna go now. Do we start a label? Do we do it ourselves? We’re not a TikTok band necessarily; we don’t have that platform.”

Loeffler spoke about Chevelle’s willingness to change, but was aware that too much change can alienate the most loyal of fans, so a delicate balance must be struck.

Unsure if the band, who formed in 1995, is going to re-sign with Epic, the singer-guitarist lamented over the overall rotten state of record deals and the money that’s been left out of their pockets.

“Contracts are a bitch, and we’ve signed some raw ones. And we need to start trying to make some money off of our catalog, which is 10 albums deep, plus all the side stuff,” bemoaned Loeffler, who then asserted, “We haven’t made any money off of record sales, album sales. It’s all gone to the major labels. A lot of people make money off of us; we just don’t make money the way the deals are structured. We just aren’t excited to get back into any kind of contract. So if we find a new home at a new label, wherever it is, it’s gotta be a special deal where you get something for your hard work.”

Delving into the nitty gritty, he went on, “It would be nice to do something different and actually make a buck off of an album for once; it just hasn’t happened for us. We’ve sold six million albums for Epic Records, and they’ve made $50 million. It’s lopsided.”

Deals that favor those handing out the contracts is not atypical in the entertainment business and Loeffler compared Chevelle’s situation to that of comedian Dave Chappelle, who signed a “raw deal” for the production and distribution of his hit sketch television show, Chappelle’s Show, which originally aired on Comedy Central.

Loeffler elaborated, noting that Chappelle’s Show was able to be placed on various streaming platforms or other television networks and that Chappelle attempted to rectify the situation by pointing out he understands the terms of the contract he signed, but hoped it would be acknowledged that a better compensation model could be enacted.

Returning to his own source of contractual grief, Loeffler continued, “The fact of the matter is when you sign a record deal with a major, they own it for, like, 20-something years. We said, ‘We’d re-sign with you if you just sent some of it through the pipeline to us.’ All the profits, they’re keeping everything. ‘And if you just send a little bit through, maybe we can talk about this, [about] continuing on.’ I mean, there’s some good people at Epic. And then, in a lot of ways, we feel burned.”

Also up in the air aside from a potential new record deal is Chevelle’s future on the whole. In January earlier this year, Loeffler told Loudwire Nights radio host Toni Gonzalez that if fans weren’t receptive toward the Niratias record, it would likely be their last new effort for some time.

“If people like this one, then I’m gonna continue on,” he said. “And if not, it may be many years before we put out anything else. I may move on to some other side projects and let Chevelle sit for a minute. This is pretty much everything we could throw at it over four years’ time.”

It remains to be seen if debuting at No. 9 with their latest record will be enough to keep things in motion.

Chevelle’s Pete Loeffler on The KiddChris Show