Ye just “gave a middle finger” to mainstream music listening services with his latest update regarding his upcoming album; – DONDA 2.
According to a new post on his latest Instagram post, ‘Donda 2’ which was named as the 3rd most anticipated albums expected to drop in 2022 by Rolling Stone will show no presence on music streaming services.
The “Bound 2” singer cites poor payout by streaming services according to the revelation he made to his 14.1Million Instagram followers. He wrote:
“Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. 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.”
Kanye fans, not all hope is lost, as he still in the same post offered an alternative to where you should find his album; a streaming device by the name “STEM.”
“Donda 2 will only be available on my own platform, the Stem Player. Not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube,” Kanye added.
Launched in August 2021, the $200 Stem Player – a device created in partnership between Yeezy Tech and Kano Computing – is a pocket-sized music player that gives customers to adjust the settings on any song (thereby making it customizable). The device is sold and available for ordering on Kanye’s site, and on eBay. While STEM will cover the digital release angle of ‘Donda 2,’ West has yet to confirm if the album will have a physical rollout.
Donda was previously released August 29th, last year and spawned hits “Hurricane”, among others.
‘Donda 2’ is out February 22nd, 2022 under Def Jam Recordings. Below are some of the reactions to Kanye’s announcement:
This move is similar to how an artist would choose to have their album available exclusively available to their website (digital), partner store (for physical copies); as a way of having control over their art and how it is distributed. A genius if you asked me.
