Photo: Engadget
Kanye West has announced Thursday on his Instagram account that his latest album, “Donda 2,” will not be available on any other streaming platform other than the Stem Player for $200.
His post read: “Donda 2 will only be available on my platform, the Stem Player. Not on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, or YouTube.” Additionally, the reason behind the exclusivity is how artists are compensated when their songs are issued on those platforms.
“Today artists get just 12 percent of the money the industry makes,” he continued together with a short video from the new album. “It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own. Go to stemplayer.com now to order.”
As per the website—which advises you to read every piece of information in all caps, feeling like West is yelling at you to swallow the pill and payout your hard-earned money—the platform is worth $200.
If you ask about the player’s edge from other platforms, it is; consumers can customize any song, download new tracks, and put in effects such as echo and feedback.
On Thursday, West wrote in another Instagram post additional information about the player, “You can play four different elements of the track: vocals, drums, bass, and music. It also has an MP3 player available.”
West revealed what appeared to be a tracklisting for “Donda 2,” the offshoot to “Donda” released in 2021, and further talked about the Stem Player in more Instagram posts, encouraging fans to “be a part of the revolution.”
“I feel that same feeling like when I first moved to New York to make it in music. I ain’t know what was gonna happen, but I knew I had to move. After ten albums, after being under ten contracts. I turned down a hundred-million-dollar Apple deal,” his post read, further stating, “No one can pay me to be disrespected.”
He also added that Stem Player lets him name his price for his art.
“Tech companies made music practically free, so if you don’t do merch sneakers and tours, you don’t eat,” he further said. “Jay-Z made Tidal and fake media attacked him. Well, in the words of my big brother, come and get me. I’m willing to die standing ’cause I ain’t living on my knees no more.”
67,000 Stem Players are accessible, and 3,000 are created every day, said West.