The brand new album will not be accessible on Amazon, Apple, Spotify or YouTube, the rapper says.
Kanye West has one other trick up his sleeve. As followers of the rap celebrity rely the times till the discharge of his new album Donda 2, Ye, as he now likes to be recognized, threw a curveball.
The LP, he reveals on Instagram, can be an unique to the Stem Participant, his personal puck-shaped gadget.
As Spotify and its rivals take unprecedented warmth for the micro royalties they move on to creators, West takes issues into his personal palms — by proudly owning the content material and the supply gadget.
“Donda 2 will solely be accessible by myself platform, the Stem Participant. Not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube,” he writes.
“At the moment artists get simply 12 p.c of the cash the trade makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take management and construct our personal. Go to stemplayer.com now to order.”
Priced at $200, Yeezy’s digital participant seems to function with controls for quantity and observe choice, built-in audio system and flashing lights.
Kanye has gone down this “exclusives” path earlier than. His seventh studio album The Lifetime of Pablo was launched in 2016, as an unique via Tidal, the streaming platform for which he was a founding shareholder.
Simply two months after its launch, Pablo rolled out on Spotify, Apple Music and different DSPs.
West was later sued by a supposed fan who argued the hip-hop star and the streaming service engaged in “misleading conduct” by luring followers into subscribing to Tidal on the idea that it was the one channel to listen to Pablo, when the album would later get pleasure from a wider launch.
Kanye’s forthcoming album is ready for launch Feb. 22, 2022, and can be offered with a particular occasion at Miami’s LoanDepot Park stadium. The Future-produced album is the follow-up to 2021’s Donda, which takes its title from Kanye’s mom.
This story first appeared on billboard.com