Kanye West has announced that his new album Donda 2 will not be released on Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify or YouTube.
On Friday (18 February), the 44-year-old rapper, who has legally changed his name to Ye, posted a teaser of a new track on his Instagram account.
In the caption, Ye revealed that the second part of his album, which is set to release on 22 February, will “only” be released on his “own” platform Stem Player.
“Today artists get just 12 per cent of the money the industry makes,” he said. “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.”
In August last year, Ye launched the Stem Player, a device created in partnership between Yeezy Tech and Kano Computing.
The advanced tools of the device include the ability to create loops, raise and lower pitch, and even combine stems from different songs.
The Stem Player unit comes with a range of technological features, according to its website: a headphone jack and bluetooth, both of which can work at once, as well as built-in speakers; a USB-C port; “touch sensitive light sliders” that glow red and blue as they are used; 8 gigabytes of storage, and the ability to play a variety of different formats on it; and a haptic engine for precise vibrations.
The Stem Player costs $200 (around £150) and is available in the UK and US and a few more nations, through a devoted website.
It is not clear exactly when and if the Stem Player will arrive to those who order it before Ye’s new album releases.
Ye’s fans are “pretty disappointed” by this move.
“And just like that I’m not listening no more,” one fan commented on Instagram, while another user said: “Bruh this ruined my night.”
Another person questioned: “Does it look like I’m going to buy a $200 Stem Player for an album?”
“What to do if the thing doesn’t ship to my country? What then?” another fan asked.
The Independent has contacted Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and YouTube for comment.
