You will not need to buy a Yeezy Stem Player to listen to “Donda 2.”
Late last night, Ye announced that Donda 2 will not be made available on streaming platforms and would only be accessible through his Stem Player platform. Many fans believed they would have to purchase a Stem Player to listen, though this was cleared up by a multitude of sources less than 30 minutes after the artist formerly known as Kanye West’s announcement.
Ye, in constant attempt to alter and shift the culture of music and art as we’ve come to know it, announced that his newest album Donda 2 will not be releasing on streaming when it drops on 2/22/22. He cited the corporations’ mishandling of artist finances as a key factor in this decision, and did so in an Instagram post (which came with a snippet from the album as well). “Donda 2 will only be available on my own platform, the Stem Player. Not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube. 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.”
The source of the confusion was obvious, but many should know to take Ye’s posts with a grain of salt. Less than an hour later, a multitude of sources explained how the album would be distributed and its availability:
Posts like these were given confirmation on the morning of Friday, February 18th. Ye visited Instagram once again, giving clarity on the subject: “Donda 2 will only be streaming on my own platform, the stem player. You can download new music from stemplayer.com. You can play 4 different elements of the track: vocals, drums, bass and music. It also has a MP3 player available. We currently have 67,000 available and are making 3,000 a day. Go click the link in my bio to purchase.”
So breathe easy, you can keep your $200 in your pocket and still bump the new Yeezy.
