Is Kanye West Pricing Fans Out of 'Donda 2'? Fans React to Stem Player Announcement

Kanye West is innovating with his music once again, but his latest change to the highly anticipated Donda 2 may prove too expensive for many fans.

He's deleted all the previous posts on his Instagram account, including several that were related to his breakup with Kim Kardashian, to make room for his recent announcements on Donda 2.

Ye, as he is now known, gave fans an update on where you can hear his album as well as news on an upcoming live concert. When it comes to where Donda 2 will be available to stream, West confirmed it wasn't going to be on "Apple, Amazon, Spotify or YouTube."

Where Will Donda 2 Be available?

Dodging the mainstream music streaming platforms, West announced late on Thursday night that Donda 2 will only be available to stream on his own platform, Stem Player.

Alongside the announcement, he shared two separate minute-long clips previewing songs from the album, which is a sequel to 2021's Donda. In the first, West wrote: "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."

Showing he was serious about not launching the album on streaming platforms, he shared information about Stem Player on his account, and also some of the features that will be included if purchased with Donda 2.

"You can play 4 different elements of the track: vocals, drums, bass and music," West wrote. "It also has a MP3 player available. We currently have 67,000 available and are making 3,000 a day."

As well as announcing where Donda 2 will now be available, he also paid tribute to Future who he said he was "honored" to have featured on the album, and he shared information about a launch gig.

West shared a picture of a poster with the Donda 2 key art, confirming that there'll be a live concert on Tuesday, February 22, at the Loan Depot Park in Miami, Florida.

Fans' Reactions

Physical Stem Player devices sell for $200 each, and fans assume this means they'll have to pay $200 for the privilege of listening to Donda 2. However, many are pointing out that the album will actually be available to listen to for free on the Stem Player website.

With no confirmation that the music will become available for free, many of Ye's fans are disappointed that they may have to fork out the money for a Stem Player to listen to it.

@Dailytrvis aired his frustration on Twitter, writing "So kanye wants us to spend $200 on a stem player so we can hear Donda 2?" while @gabriellaamarsh wrote: "kanye ily but ain't no one buying a god damn stem player to listen to your album i'm sorry."

Twitter user @oscos put things in perspective for West's fans, reminding them that The Life of Pablo was a Tidal exclusive when it first launched, but everyone got to hear that free eventually too.

West has made a recent habit of announcing album release dates only to put them back at the last minute, and @DaveTrent9 is wary of the same happening again.

British musician and soccer player Chelcee Grimes had a different take on Ye's announcement though. She's backing the new Stem Player and thinks the launch reaffirms West's stance as a "genius" because he's "changing the world as we know it and you gotta respect that."

As it stands, Donda 2 will launch on Tuesday, February 22, 2022.