Kayne West announced Thursday that his upcoming album will only be available on his proprietary platform, the Stem Player. Donda 2 will not be streaming on Apple Music, Spotify or YouTube. The player allows a user to break any song into “stems”. Furthermore, one can control vocals, drums, bass and samples. Parts of songs can be isolated and effects added. And it is all very tactile, using a physical device.
In regards to tech specs, Bluetooth is supported. A 97db speaker is on board, along with a 3.5MM jack, USB-C and 8GB of storage. Also, a wide variety of sound formats, including .WAV, .FLAC and .MP3 are compatible.
Once a create a new mix, you can save it and playback. The player has already generated positive reviews. CNET calls it “a fun and highly functional improvisational instrument for modern times”. Jon Denton concluded it is “an incredible device”. Denton has a “profound experience” using the Stem Player. He found himself inside the music and interacting with it.
Kayne says it is “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 the United States, the Stem Player is shipping now for $200.
Kayne has had quite a week already. The artist appeared in McDonald’s Super Bowl commercial. Of course, Ye was wearing the black Round Jacket from his Yeezy GAP collection. Furthermore, the Stronger artist attended the big game with his daughters.
Responses are mixed on his Instagram announcement regarding Donda 2’s exclusivity on Stem Player. trgc said it was a “genius” move. Meanwhile, luciphomet replied “yeah i’m not buying that…i’ll just wait for the files to drop”. Furthermore, Noah Cyrus liked the post.
