Kanye West to stream new album 'Donda 2' exclusively on $200 Stem Player

Kanye West has released the tracklist for his next album, Donda 2, with a caveat. The rapper announced that the new music will not be made available on streaming services – "not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube.” Instead, listeners will be able to access it exclusively via West's Stem Player device, which costs $200. The device will allow listeners to play four different track elements: vocals, drum, bass and music.

The Stem Player was launched last year in a partnership with Kano Computing, and shipped with the first Donda album. It allows users to manipulate songs using touch-sensitive sliders built into its shell. The device lets users control and isolate different elements of the song, and add effects. There is also real-time loop and speed control, and the ability to save, play back and download mixes. The device is currently available in the US, the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. “We currently have 67,000 available and are making 3,000 a day,” West wrote in an Instagram post.

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The new album is scheduled for release on Tuesday, February 22. "Tech companies made music practically free so if you don't do merch sneakers and tours, you don't eat," West wrote on Instagram, as part of a series of posts on the topic. "No one can pay me to be disrespected. We set our own price for our art," he said.

This is not the first time that West has pushed against streaming models or toyed with unconventional release methods. After dropping The Life of Pablo in 2016, at first exclusively on the platform Tidal, West continued altering the record, adding vocals, new lyrics and remixes.

Last year, he offered previews of Donda over a series of listening events and when it was finally released on streaming platforms, he claimed his label had dropped it without permission. His most recent announcement comes in the wake of public outcry over Spotify, which is accused of allowing misinformation to spread via its podcasts and star host Joe Rogan. "Today, artists get just 12 per cent of the money the industry makes. It's time to free music from this oppressive system," West wrote. "It's time to take control and build our own."

The new album comes as West has been posting prolifically about his personal life and angst over his divorce from Kim Kardashian.