Kanye goes direct to consumer with his new album, as artists’ streaming frustration grows

Yeezy taught me… Kanye West isn't afraid to be vocal, whether it’s about his personal life or his moves to take on an "oppressive" music industry. The artist now known by “‘Ye’” live-streamed a “Donda Experience” event on Tuesday to promote his new “Donda 2” album. Ye’s making the record available exclusively on a physical $200 “Stem Player” device (think: a new-age iPod that looks like a smoke detector). Why: Ye wants to bypass streaming platforms like Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube. Kanye also tried to skip those streamers with his launch event:

• Ye originally said the event would stream only at IMAX theaters, and later only on the Stem site. But ultimately it streamed free on YouTube and Amazon’s Twitch (awk).
• The original Donda set a streaming record for Apple Music last year when it got 60M streams on day #1. Kanye says he turned down $100M from Apple for “Donda 2.”

The revolution will be streamed… but it’s less certain where. Many musicians have criticized streaming platforms for their payout structures: artists reportedly earn only about 10% of streaming revenue, so they have to hit 1M streams just to pocket $5K on Spotify, Apple, or Amazon. Several stars have attempted to ditch major platforms in a push to better control their earnings:

• Beyoncé made her breakthrough 2016 album “Lemonade” exclusive to Tidal, a platform formerly co-owned by her husband, Jay-Z, and his frenemy Kanye. But Tidal never caught on, and last year Square bought it.
• Taylor Swift has shunned both Apple Music and Spotify at various times, and re-recorded her “Red” album to claim streaming bucks back from labels.