Want to hear Kanye West's new album? You need to buy his RM835 device first

Ye says that his forthcoming album will be available only on his Stem Player listening device rather than streaming services. Photo: AFP

Ye is bringing Donda 2 to his own platform.

The artiste formerly known as Kanye West announced that his forthcoming album – which he's set to premiere in Miami on February 22 – will be available only on his Stem Player listening device rather than streaming services.

In a flurry of Instagram posts on Feb 17, Ye explained his decision, accusing streaming services of reducing the value of music.

"Donda 2 will only be available on my own platform, the Stem Player. Not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube," he wrote in a post that included a preview of presumably a new song.

"Today artistes 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."

"After 10 albums after being under 10 contracts. I turned down a hundred million dollar Apple deal," he added in another post.

"No one can pay me to be disrespected. We set our own price for our art. Tech companies made music practically free so if you don't do merch sneakers and tours you don't eat."

West's Stem Player, released in 2021, allows listeners to isolate various elements of a song (such as vocals, bass and drums) to create their own remix. The device sells for US$200 (RM835) and originally shipped with the first Donda.

"I'm willing to die standing cause I ain't living on my knees no more. God please cover me. I run this company 100% I don't have to ask for permission. This is our 2nd generation stemplayer We have more things we working on. I feel like how I felt in the first episode of the documentary," he wrote, referring to his new Netflix documentary, jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service