Kanye West is releasing Donda 2 exclusively on the Stem Player, a device created by Kanye in collaboration with Kano Computing. The device includes intriguing features like splitting songs into stem tracks for remixing. Will this shift the music industry? What about the listening experience?
What is a stem track?
Every song consists of multiple tracks- many more than you might think. Stems are channels containing the grouped sounds of a song. Some have vocal tracks, instrument tracks, drum tracks, or effects like reverbs, delays, and distortion. Artists or audio engineers then mix all the channels to create the songs we enjoy. When artists record songs as live performances, instruments often bleed into each others’ tracks. So you might have been able to hear distant drumming in a guitar track. Almost every instrument is recorded individually with modern technology, resulting in cleaner stem tracks. The Stem Player gives its owners the option to engage the stem tracks in the music they consume.
Why is having access to stem tracks significant?
Having access to a song’s stem tracks means you can alter a piece from its released version. As a concept, Kanye’s Stem Player is quite revolutionary in that it gives listeners control over how a song sounds. Unfortunately, most music consumers might not grasp or care about the significance. However, people who choose to play around with them can adjust a song to their liking. Want to boost the vocals? Or what about synthesizers hidden in the background? With access to stem tracks, you can do that on the fly.
An interactive listening experience
Whether you’re a casual listener or an audiophile, having access to more sound elements could help people appreciate music even more than they already do. It might be hard to imagine just how much we could get out of music if we took a closer look at each of its components; using Kanye’s Stem Player could be a significant first step in realizing just how rich and complex different songs can be. While it may not be for everyone, the Stem Player paves the way for consumers to enjoy personalized mixes of the tunes we play.
How will this affect the music industry?
At $200 per device, Kanye’s Stem Player is a pricey way to get an album. It’s no secret that musicians have been generating less revenue since streaming services became the norm. You could argue it started in the late 90s and early 2000s with Napster and Limewire. Still, CD sales were a thing and kept profits going for a while. A resurgence of interest in vinyl records might have helped too. Rock champion Jack White even put out holographic vinyl versions of his album “Lazaretto,” for example.
In the end, though, Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube dealt a heavy blow. This isn’t the first time Kanye has tried to find a way to make more money off his music. Back in 2014, Kanye promoted Jay-Z’s Tidal streaming service. The service claims to offer higher royalty payments per stream than other music streaming platforms. The Stem Player seems like Kanye’s latest effort to present music in a way that increases artists’ revenue. Or his own, at the least. While those who understand what the product offers might bite, it’s hard to imagine casual listeners paying $200 for a device with a new album.
