Rapper Kanye West, who is also legally known as Ye at the moment, has recently revealed that his next album, Donda 2, will be exclusively available on his Stem Player. The move mirrored the release of his previous album, Donda but this time around, the artist says he won’t be releasing the album on any commercial streaming services.
In a post on Instagram, Ye wrote that artists only get 12% of the money generated on streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube. He went on to claim in another post that he had turned down a US$100 million (~RM418 million) deal with Apple but did not elaborate on what that deal entailed.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CaGuRhADEib/
The Stem Player was launched last year in partnership with Kano Computing and allows users to manipulate songs using four touch-sensitive “stems” that control vocals, drums, bass, and music samples while also being able to add loops and sound effects. It costs US$200 (~RM837) and currently only ships to the US, UK, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, which effectively limits the audience for the album.
West said that only 67,000 units of the device are currently available although 3,000 new units are being produced daily. Donda 2 is slated to be released on 22 February, and only time will tell if it will remain restricted to the Stem Player. Ye previously launched The Life of Pablo exclusively on Tidal in 2016, but less than two months later, it was released to Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play.
(Source: Kanye West/Instagram.)
