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Ever the businessman, Kanye says album only for hardware buyers.


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Kanye “announced today his newest album will only be released on his $200 Stem Player. This portable device is similar to an MP3 player in which you can add your own music and also features lighting effects and Lossless audio mixing. The player will also ship with [his album] included.”

 

West said, “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.”

 

https://9to5mac.com/2022/02/18/why-kanye-wests-donda-2-wont-stream-on-apple-music/

 

 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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He could just sell his music from his own website like many if he has the interest.

 

Even though his cost is probably pennies on the dollar for this device this way he has to sell two ideas on his audience.

 

I am sure he could have come up with some other publicity BS to get attention.

 

 

 

 

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Her has a very large fan base.  I suspect he’s going to move what… a few hundred thousand of these novelty boxes at $200 a piece.  It will take all but a few hours from release for his music to show up on YouTube and other social media platforms.  Will he have them take it down? Not being on Spotify, Apple Music, etc. for a mega star like himself - risky?  Maybe he figures 12% of that revenue is similar to what he’ll earn from selling his light box? 
 

“Hours after Kanye West announced that Donda 2 will only be available to stream on his Stem Player, the rapper revealed that he has sold over 6,200 devices — good for $1.3 million — in the past 24 hours. Along with sharing the sales data, he leveled some sharp criticism at the streaming services as he explained why his upcoming album won’t be available there upon its 2.22.22 arrival.”

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/kanye-west-stem-player-sales-figures-blasts-streaming-services-1302735/amp/

 

 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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He can announce whatever. Has anyone seen proof? I don't really care. I am tired of publicity whores being given a spotlight.

 

Without the mainstream outlets will he be able to attract new fans at the same rate he has with the mainstream outlets? Does it matter? Is he already an oldie but goodie with fans who will loyally support him til their death buying reissues and special collections in special packages and attending several rounds of "Farewell Tours"?

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🤨 If I had magic powers, I'd replace Kanye's album on that player with a version of the theme to "Sanford & Son" as performed by DEVO.😛

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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Speaking as a DJ, Kanye was big in the oh-ohs (aughts or noughties for you Brits :laugh: ) but I don't think I've had a Kanye request in 10 years. I guess he's still got fans because his albums jump to the top of the Billboard 200 when released, but then quickly fall. As far as I'm concerned, he can do whatever he wants with Donda 2. I never used anything from Donda 1. 

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I have zero interest in whatever Kanye is selling. I'll be glad when the remainder of his 15 minutes runs out too. He's taking up too much bandwidth with BS. 😎

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PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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My scam alert radar has always been pretty good, and it started clanging when I read that.

 

By the way, if you want a version of this ScamAlertRadar software for your very own, just send me $175 and I'll send you one of my exclusive Doomba devices handcrafted in Malaysia.  Crypto currency not accepted.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

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I just checked my DJ pool, and there's got to be at least 100 Kanye tracks in there. A growing number of new artists (Doja Cat and Lil Nas X come to mind) no longer consider club play an important part of promotion, and don't provide their tracks to pools. If I want the MP3 (which is essential for prepping for a mix) I've got to buy it like everyone else. That's not Kanye apparently, so what he's doing now is bizarre. 

 

As a club DJ (and I'm really small time now that I'm getting older, so with a grain of salt) I stopped playing even older Kanye because he just doesn't go over anymore. This is in stark contrast to the classic hip-hop we all heard during the Super Bowl - which still works great. I don't know who his fans are, but he can fill stadiums with nothing but an album reveal - so they're out there somewhere I guess. Personally, I'm not one. 

 

 

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Didn't Neil Young try to sell everybody on his own portable music player? called "Pono"?

Just looked that up, here is what google says...

In April 2017, Young announced PonoMusic store was being discontinued, but with future plans to transition the service from a download model to a high-resolution streaming service to be known as "Xstream".

 

I guess he'll need to get Xstream up and running soon, with him being off Spotify (for now?).

 

This all gets so confusing. 

Kurzweil PC3, Yamaha MOX8, Alesis Ion, Kawai K3M
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Calling yourself a genius is the #1 sure-fire way to be seen as the opposite. My personal gold standard is Thomas Dolby, who said "Some consider me to be a boffin, but I think I'm more of a knowing ignoramus." A little humility acts like the oil reservoir in that Hammond in your head. Everything goes better when properly lubed. OK, that's just one parameter, but I stand by it.

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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54 minutes ago, synthizen2 said:

Didn't Neil Young try to sell everybody on his own portable music player? called "Pono"?

Just looked that up, here is what google says...

In April 2017, Young announced PonoMusic store was being discontinued, but with future plans to transition the service from a download model to a high-resolution streaming service to be known as "Xstream".

 

I guess he'll need to get Xstream up and running soon, with him being off Spotify (for now?).

 

This all gets so confusing. 

I think, if memory serves me right, that Niel’s Pono player wasn’t a scheme to sell his new album for $200+ a copy. It was more a real hardware product for audiophiles - a way for artists to provide access to high quality recordings for listeners who cared. At the time the iTunes Store and the like were still selling lossy compression formats.  Actually it has taken a long time for streaming services to offer better quality recordings as well. 

 


 

 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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5 hours ago, David Emm said:

Calling yourself a genius...

It may not be what you think. The story goes, he was called on his being an anus so many times Beyonce told him, "You are a natural born a-hole. It's in your genes." To which he thought "gene-ass" and then rappified it with "jeen yuhs." Rather than "genius" he is describing himself as "a natural born anus."

 

 

At least this is what I am going with.

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14 hours ago, 16251 said:

Kind of wish narcissistic people who attain fame and fortune <good for them> would just go away and enjoy their riches. Ye IMHO now has stayed too long and risks becoming a nut-case stalker. 

 

Scott Adams of "Dilbert" fame is currently behaving a bit like Kanye. He's not the only one. Guy's got millions (he can just live out the rest of his life on some Hawaiian island)... but NO, he has to sit at his cramped desk in his cramped urban office on social media, sticking his opinion into everything. 

 

So, we're beginning to see it's not what we thought it was. Attention and relevance in the social eye always trumps "just money".

Kurzweil PC3, Yamaha MOX8, Alesis Ion, Kawai K3M
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Don't shoot the messenger, but I always thought there might be a market for a music player that allowed some interaction -- things like different tempos, mixes, breaks, etc. -- depending on how the user interacted -- sort of like you being your own DJ.

Want to make your band better?  Check out "A Guide To Starting (Or Improving!) Your Own Local Band"

 

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On 2/21/2022 at 2:34 PM, 16251 said:

Kind of wish narcissistic people who attain fame and fortune <good for them> would just go away and enjoy their riches. Ye IMHO now has stayed too long and risks becoming a nut-case stalker. 

That’s exactly what Kim said. 

..
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13 hours ago, cphollis said:

Don't shoot the messenger, but I always thought there might be a market for a music player that allowed some interaction -- things like different tempos, mixes, breaks, etc. -- depending on how the user interacted -- sort of like you being your own DJ.

Conceptually, yeah. An interactive music player - possibly giving users control over music mixed down for  dolby atmos/Apple spatial audio would be interesting.  But should producers require purchase of the hardware as an exclusive way to hear their record? Is there even anything else that has been created to work on this hardware? 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Stems has been around for awhile - a Native Instrument concept designed to sell Traktor hardware and software. The track is broken into four parts (typically drums, bass, synths, and vocals) and the DJ can then mix, filter, and loop individual elements live. It was really set up more for Euro style EDM than what I do - and as EDM has kind of faded everywhere I don't know if anyone is using it anymore. 

 

Kanye is apparently trying to bring that to the consumer with his hardware player, but other than his own music the problem may be what's always been the problem with stems: finding anything in that format. 

 

 

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6 hours ago, Bill H. said:

I don't know if anyone is using it anymore. 

My Traktor hardware has not been connected to a computer in 5 years. Still, it gets more use than my Kanye tracks. Out of 2000 CD's in my collection, I don't think I have any songs by Kanya, even on mix CD's. I did own and buy Video Laser Disks way back. Learned my lesson. Will not even look at something as esoteric as his stem player. Next thing you know he will invent a new letter for the alphabet and call it "Kanye".

This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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I have to say I spoke with some students the other day… 16-18 suburban kids. They dig Kanye.  He’s classic or vintage to them. Simply said, not my music, and maybe not my generation’s music. But, the guy has his fans - his rhymes and grooves connect with them.
 

At the same time I’ve heard from people just about 10 years  younger than me that they loved the NFL halftime show this year. Felt it was one of the best ever.  Dre, Eminem, Snoop, Mary J. doing what are now classics in American popular music.  
 

2018 data:

8F47E352-1FF2-4B8B-8F7D-B5ED77B0EEB6.thumb.jpeg.537804d647cb4959372b5602bd8323df.jpeg

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Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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This was posted on FB shortly after the Super Bowl by someone I know in her 30s:

 

That one just hit different.

That one felt special for us millennials/Gen Xers.

Maybe that’s because it brought us back to a time that felt simpler and safer and way more fun.

Maybe that’s because even though we haven’t heard those lyrics or danced like that in literal DECADES, we didn't skip a beat.

Maybe that’s because here I am, a mid-30s mom of two—a far cry from the girl who broke it down to “In Da Club” in an actual club—struggling through one of the hardest and most isolating times of my life.

But when they all came together up on the stage like that at the end . . . it felt like seeing a group of old friends.

Maybe that’s because it felt like home.

 

I saw similar things posted by others in her age group too. And it's still insanely popular. The Youtube video of 50 Cent's In Da Club has been viewed over 1.3 billion times. 

 

 

 

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