Ye’s new album, “Donda 2”, released this Tuesday, February 22, will not be available on any music platform. A controversial decision. Explanations.
Exit Spotify, Deezer or Apple Music. To listen to Ye’s album, you will need to get a “Stem Player”, the small connected speaker that he sells for 200 euros. “Technology companies have made music almost free, so if we don’t pay for sneakers and tours, we don’t eat (…) Artists today only collect 12% of the money that the industry makes. industry (music). It’s time to free music from this system of oppression (…) No one can pay me to be disrespected. We set our own price for our art,” the 44-year-old rapper wrote on Instagram.
67,000 speakers already available
The connected speaker, beyond a listening function, also allows you to add effects to titles and has four audio outputs. For example, it is possible to isolate voices and increase or decrease certain sounds. 67,000 speakers are currently on sale, and the artist claims that they manufacture “3,000 a day”. If the announced goal is to fight against the “oppression” of the music industry, his choice is controversial, especially with his fans. Indeed, the sum of purchase is substantial…
Already in 2016, Kanye West launched “The Life of Pablo” exclusively on Tidal, with the same intention. But a few weeks later, the album was released on all platforms, showing a failure of the exclusivity strategy, as Numerama recalls. A failure that Ye now wishes to circumvent.