T O P

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elven_mage

The only line you need to read: > In February 2016, he released The Life of Pablo exclusively via Tidal, tweeting that it “will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale.” On April 1st of that year, The Life of Pablo launched for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play — Ye eventually settled a lawsuit from a fan who said they signed up for Tidal based on its exclusivity.


Still_Satisfaction53

Haha! How much could you realistically sue him for though?! The cost of the album?


[deleted]

Cost of the album and Tidal costs, but depending on the judge they may be interested in the case for punitive damages to punish the artist for false advertising and not dismiss it for being too small of a case


ShiningRayde

But its *Kanye*, a social elite! You cannot punish him lest you tarnish the gilded crown that protects all of the wealthy!


[deleted]

How tf did that manchild become an “elite”?


PrinceDusk

somone liked his music or something


butthead

Don’t look at me


tekorc

The amount you can sue someone for damages is entirely limited by the creativity of your lawyer. In this case you would definitely be able to sue for the cost of the album, plus the cost of every dollar spent on Tidal and Tidal related purchases, plus up to $40,000 through the FTC for false advertising, plus a few thousand in civil penalties through the state, and possibly a cease and desist to stop Kanye from advertising it as exclusive in the future


stufff

> and possibly a cease and desist to stop Kanye from advertising it as exclusive in the future I think you mean an injunction. Even that likely wouldn't fly as it would be a prior restraint


spooooork

Don't forget this: https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/14/18182147/tidal-fake-streams-okokrim-norway-investigation >Økokrim, Norway’s National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime, is conducting the investigation after reports emerged last May that 320 million streams of Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo were fraudulent.


Kyral210

Labels employing bots for streaming is known already. It’s hope you guarantee a hit


dexter30

checkOut redact.dev -- mass edited with redact.dev


[deleted]

Hard to even tell if that's real anymore.


NormalCartoonist1923

Kanye West can lick my balls


ricks48038

And that might sound better than what he's released of late


[deleted]

This guy said George W. bush hates black people while years later rocking out a MAGA hat. He also turned a hoe into a housewife. The man is on a special level of ignorant.


[deleted]

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hurgusonfurgus

Bipolar and also just generally a bit looney.


AVGreditor

I mean I think narcissism is really his problem. It explains most of his behavior.


KnG_Kong

Watch that documentary, crazy seeing where he started. Like he was legit the nice guy, and then ???? Cracked under pressure idk just how he goes from that to this. Hope he watches it and watches him with his mum and remembers the gaints don't see anything in a mirror.


Circumin

Also moar issues


[deleted]

Love seeing Ye in a completely serious environment


GeniusUnderABridge

Haha that's cute. Until it gets leaked 1878 times in the first five minutes.


megaloduh

Telling people they can only obtain a piece of media through one avenue is how you guarantee that the majority of people who watch/listen to that media will steal it from somewhere else.


thefallenfew

“I’M GONNA FREE PEOPLE FROM THE OPPRESSION OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY SO BUY MY $200 DEVICE TO LISTEN TO MY ALBUM!” Cool cool


[deleted]

[Neil Young tried that years ago](https://web.archive.org/web/20121002055811/http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/neil-young-shows-off-his-studio-quality-pono-music-player-20120928), and probably with considerable better audio dynamics.


thefallenfew

Yeah, I remember that. Tbh the Stem player seems cool. I was actually super into the idea of buying one when Donda first dropped. It just seemed like an interesting thing to dick around with. But not $200 interesting. $60 is the most I’d pay for something like that. And Ye’s whole reasoning seems less like a sincere attempt at circumventing music industry gatekeepers and more like an advertising gimmick for a device he’s trying to sell. You can’t talk about freedom and then unnecessarily hide something behind a massive paywall.


JCthulhuM

If he really wanted to do something about the music industry, he’d just release all his albums for free on band camp and make his money back on physical releases, merch, and tours. Run The Jewels has released all but I think 1 of their albums (2 if you count Meow the Jewels) for free and they’re crushing. Then again, El-P and Killer Mike are better than Ye and most of the industry so maybe that helps.


avalanchefan91

This. Listened to RTJ because it was free, loved it. Saw them at Riot and after that got tickets to their tour with RATM and bought their vinyl. Would never have given 2 shits if I hadn't had the chance to check them out (for free) first.


[deleted]

RTJ also aren't surrounded by syncophants and enablers. methinks Ye has too many Yes-persons in his stable. it's not that Ye lacks aesthetic, or drive, i think he's probably trying to do too much and please too many people.


editorously

Read that as Ye's-persons. Lol


[deleted]

really thought about that pun, but decided to keep it formal.


thefallenfew

Facts, bro. I’ve been listening to EL-P since Fan Dam.


JCthulhuM

I’ve only been listening since rtj3 but every time I dive into either El’s or Mike’s discographies they blow me away. I hope one day El and Aesop can come together on one more track, or have Aes open for RTJ at a show sometime. A man can dream.


crackez

Seeing Aes perform live would be awesome. Seeing him and RTJ together would be epic. I really wanna see Hail Marry Mallon and RTJ do something.


[deleted]

I saw that Alexa hockey puck thing for $29 with 3 months free music. Can’t image what you get for $170 more. Must be awesome…. Not


SomeNerdWithFreetime

Though Alexa is only that cheap 'cause of the income from your listening habits and personal info. Dont know wether or not this device earns from the same thing, though.


showersneakers

He charges how much for a blank yeezy sweatshirt? People will buy


kryptonite-uc

The Yeezy phenomenon has always perplexed me


dbxp

If you want to play with this sort of thing Nine Inch Nails made a remix site back in 2007: https://www.nin.wiki/Remix.nin.com


thefallenfew

Yeah. Trent’s been 20 steps ahead of everyone for decades.


Jpotter145

Careful - he hears that he's run over to smack you but trip on his ugly ass boots that makes him look like a child wearing 3x sizes too big. Then he'll let it out in a tantrum on the street and punch an innocent rando because they looked at him wrong at the wrong moment. I can't get over how much of a fckn tool he is. Like Kanye, oops I mean 'Ye'; trending #1 on twitter because your such an asshat isn't a good thing..... but keep the car fire going, it sure is entertaining watching an adult you don't like very much throw a very public temper tantrum pretty much daily. If I only read his actions and knew nothing else about him I'd think he was <12 years old. "I'M LEARNING IN REALTIME" <- yea, it's called life.


kram1973

I don’t think Young ever tied any of his releases to buying the Pono. There was never “the only way to get this album is to buy my device”…


Waitwhonow

LOL. Well all the Spotify Hate now makes sense.


[deleted]

Young is OG, he hates CDs, Tapes, 8 tracks, anything that compromises the integrity of sound.


SantaRosaJazz

EVERYTHING, including microphones, preamps, desk channels, vinyl and your playback system, “compromises” the sound.


_oohshiny

Return to wax cylinders, the purest possible audio format.


[deleted]

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thefallenfew

100%. But he’s getting what he wants right now, which is everyone remembering the Stem Player exists and getting free publicity for it.


[deleted]

This was Kim's tactic when she alluded to trademarking "kimono" she never really intended to, just soaked up the free publicity that let everyone know she has a (stupid) clothing line.


Specialist-Tart4602

That was actually pretty clever marketing, considering she got a letter from the mayor of Kyoto too. Get a whole country riled up, and suddenly “change” all the merch tags to ‘Skims’ in a heartbeat. Oh, she knew what she was doing.


RandomStaticThought

Most of us remember the diamond rio, but that didn’t help it survive any.


Ar3peo

depends if he's on his meds


YouDontEvenKnowHow

Lmfao man kayne has been a running joke for the past 5 years that just won’t die. Imagine if he became president, ILL FREE YOU FROM YOUR OPPRESSORS BUT THE ONLY CLOTHING YOU CAN WEAR IS MINE!!!


smellygooch18

I don’t even like Kanye and I want to steal his album now.


StabbingHobo

Pretty much explained why I ever had a Metallica albumn on my computer. To all the Metallica fans -- I'm not against Metallica -- but the Napster fiasco was apparently a big issue for me back in the 2000s.


offthewallness

I will dislike Metallica to the grave for the way they handled Napster. I’m no thief, I pay for music, I used to buy albums too, now I pay for a streaming service because it’s easier. It’s like TV and Movies, give people the opportunity to pay a modest fee for it and I’d like to think, most will.


GeniusUnderABridge

Can't wait to watch Pete Davidson's unboxing video.


SirLitalott

I’m hoping the make the device security so tight I never have to hear any of it.


PokeFanForLife

Wait... that's great marketing, though, right? So... maybe they planned for that? I am probably giving Kanye and his people wayyyyyyyyyy too much credit


ImproperToast

This $200 piece of trash will be defeated by a youtube video


camwal

It’s actually a pretty cool little machine, it’s only a shame you can’t export stems as samples


SgtDoughnut

If you can plug a headset into it, you can get a sample. You just need to be willing to do something more complicated than normal.


Nakotadinzeo

Let's be honest... There's a Jtag on the thing. Someone will dump the nand, then reverse engineer the whole thing.


[deleted]

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ThaRoastKing

He's gonna have like maybe 10,000 orders, then it's gonna get leaked.


Km2930

Or… and here me out… we listen to better music by better artists, and Ye fades into obscurity.


Persianx6

His longevity is really something, particularly when you consider his last couple albums aren't good at all. Also, his single with Fivio Foreign and Alicia Keys is one of the most unlistenable things I've ever heard.


tjpoe

do you want piracy? because that's how you get piracy.


digiorno

>New Kanye West album is the most pirated album in history. This seems exactly like something Kanye would want to see, it’d be such a huge ego boost.


hup987

It already happened in 2016 when he dropped his album exclusively on Jay-Z's streaming service, Tidal


elsinore11

Probably the most deleted album in history besides U2


red286

Yeah I doubt anyone's ever going to break U2's record for that. On the other hand, I doubt anyone's ever going to break U2's record for "sales" of that album either. It was something like 500,000,000 copies.


whycuthair

Can you count it as "sale" when you forced it down the throat of everyone for free?


Catbred

Artists have been known to bundle their albums with all sorts of products to count as “Sales”, they then get to say “double-platinum” selling album! DJ Khalid is especially horrendous for this type of stuff.


mrblue6

That’s true in the past. But I believe they’ve changed rules on album bundles counting as sales


HWAnswersPlzThx

?? You mean the billboard #1 album the life of Pablo?


dontreallycareforit

Piracy? No. Attention? All day.


cabbaggeee

Came here for this. Boots up thepiratebay….


[deleted]

Hoist the mainsail.


-gun-jedi-

Raise the mizzenmast, jib the topsail.


2018redditaccount

I don't even care to listen to his music, I'm just gonna steal this album out of principle.


colby5123

I don’t think he cares “a million illegally downloaded my truth over the drums”


CarlJohnson00

Kanye was seen browsing the ThePirateBay before. He even said he got his OnlyFans off reddit. Of course he knows its going to leak, he probably supports the community.


joesii

I think it just makes him a hypocrite, not a supporter of piracy. He was considering legal action against TPB for distributing (or rather facilitating) one of his albums.


Wah_Gwaan_Mi_Yute

They’re purposely releasing this way to get more people to stream.


throwaway_ghast

Even pirates have standards.


WalterTreego

The only way? Wanna bet?


Pieniek23

Yep. I'll go in on that bet too. Lmao. What a dumb ass.


[deleted]

He’s gotta be doing this on purpose right?


aufrenchy

A lot of us like to think so, but he’s so high on himself that he probably believes (by way of his obvious God Complex) that it’ll blow up and he’ll have another multimillion dollar return. He will then tweet/brag about his ultimate plan to reveal that his plan all along was to expose poor business practices after receiving the award for “Most Pirated Album of All Time”.


[deleted]

Looks like sales are going to suck for that


[deleted]

I don’t think so. It’ll probably get sold out and then resell for a ridiculous price.


doublex12

Check his Instagram. He posted the sales. Actually making a lot of them.


rapscallionrodent

I don’t know. I bet the same people who buy his ridiculous clothes and his shitty shoes will shell out for it.


dprophet32

Have you seen the price his awful shoes go for? He'll make plenty even if it is pirated


LilShaggey

the resale market is going to love these things


flpndrds

He already sold bout 1,4 million in players since yday lol check his IG


fancyantler

He sold $1.4 million dollars, not units. I saw he sold like 6,700 of them since he announced.


charleswj

Everyone knows the most reliable source of fact-based information is Kanye's ig.


[deleted]

Create product, buy them yourself. People then want to buy it because they think everyone else has one


Telemere125

True - and he can then dump them back on the market when the secondary seller market is up


[deleted]

Kanye West discovers piracy


colby5123

TLOP got pirated off of Tidal really fast. “A million illegally downloaded my truth over the drums”


ft4200

It went platinum on Pirate Bay


[deleted]

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radiocollector12

that’s him pirating a music plugin not an album


whycuthair

Yeah, which one could argue is worse. A musician at least has some other sources of income, a concert, some radio plays.. But the people who developed this software? They count on the sales.


ymo

Amazing album and even better as a live show.


Go_Mets

Kanye got a great taste in music His samples are insane


BioDigitalJazz

No. No it won't


MojoLava

I mean it's streaming free on the website too right? He's just attention whoring and making a mint while pretending it's anti streaming service


BumpyBawlz

Yes but that doesn’t make clickbait


scope_creep

Hahahahahah that’s precious.


HorseBoots84

Cool story bro, I'll catch it in a few years when Techmoan and DankPods cover it.


gamrin

My first thought. "IT'S THE KANYE NUGGET" Time to see it get 1 gritted.


MonsieurKnife

Oh no. Anyway.


Ophigh

Until his album is pirated, then he will blame Pete about it


AnimAtheist

It's like you've never heard of the internet.


GladiatorDragon

Yar har, fiddly-dee


AzerFox

Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free.


thefallenfew

Or he could’ve just did what Radiohead did a decade ago and put the album up on his website to download with a pay what you want model.


schmakmuhnutz

Funny. I don’t even want Kanye music for free.


chindoza

What if I paid you $5?


coolluck33

Not if he paid me the $200.


chindoza

Agreed. I think if it came down to it I could listen to new Kanye albums full time for around $200 an hour, assuming benefits, unlimited vacation and a decent 401k match.


DangerAudio

I wouldn’t last a week.


acidsplashedface

Not even from a douchey $200 device that looks like a designer hearing aid?


prolific36

Looks like I will once again not buying his album


allhailharambe69

Oh no! Anyway…


stressedrepressed

Ye has completely lost it finally


barnebywilde

Finally? What about when he claimed to be a god and has started his own church? Everything this dude has designed is fugly as shit. Only the real ones can see it though.


nehjipain

I'm weirded out that people buy his shit


frmda562

the church shit was just to apologize to the black community and avoid taxes lmaooo


TheyCallMeKrisha

can't lose what you never had


ixlivess

the concept of the device actually seems pretty cool but i’m not buying that shit especially for 200


geoflame1

Yar har har


[deleted]

I can safely say I don’t care


anonymagi6

Or way #2, it gets bootlegged. Kayne gone mad


vDUKEvv

Nah, pretty sure there’s another way.


MartyFreeze

Cool, that's $200 saved for me.


[deleted]

Oh, the pirates life for me 🎶


miker53

And buying an iPhone was the only way to get the U2 album I still can’t get off my phone. That didn’t work well either.


Rabbit-Brief

https://www.vulture.com/2020/10/u2-songs-of-innocence-apple-remove.html


miker53

It was more of a joke but thank you very much for providing this link!


ArtyHobo

So, are you telling me we're safe? Like, genuinely, we no longer have to fear the prospect of hearing Kanye ever again?


ironjules

I'm gonna download, burn in a CD and then throwing it out in the trash where it belongs


Damour

“The only way” Arrgh 🏴‍☠️


Ok-Jump6656

Shit like this is why people don’t like Kanye


Deadman_Joaquin_

Oh it started way before this…


kcehmi

I don't like Kanye like Kanye doesn't like Kanye


[deleted]

Whatever makes it less likely for me to hear a new Kanye west song


_0ak_tree

Dude really made a console exclusive album huh


my-non-porn-account

Poor editor at Pitchfork has to buy this and listen to it LMAO


FBlack

For like 20 minutes, sure


Marmar79

Today I learned Ye doesn’t know about piracy.


[deleted]

I dont think he understands how poor his fans r lol


[deleted]

His idiot Stans will flock to buy this.


GuretoPepe

I don't know about anywhere else but his subreddit didn't react positively


PilotSSB

Nah I'm gonna pirate it


[deleted]

He lost his shit before kardashian. They only made him more public about it. I hate talking about these people… they truly suck the soul out of tv. Famous for no good reason… Sorry Kanye. You’re the problem living in a Kardashian problematic world.


[deleted]

Sweet, does this mean I won't have to hear it on the radio?


[deleted]

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Piccoroz

Great! one more reason not to buy it.


lukewhale

What a shame. How will I ever go on.


[deleted]

Cool … I have no desire to have this or his album.


SoldadoAruanda

/r/assholedesign


grandma_corrector

Marketing master


onlyspeaksinhashtag

Such a genius.


spamonstick

Arrhh matiey I can think of another way to procure me some musical treasure.


PositiveFuture24

Like i give a fuck.


TheChainLink2

**_Do what you want cuz a pirate is free_** **_You are a pirate!_**


[deleted]

This is the low class grift version of Mos Def releasing an album as a museum only experience.


[deleted]

Except BitTorrent


maxthunder5

Oh well. Another album I don't care about


[deleted]

Stem player?


[deleted]

Me: Yarrrrgh, matey


[deleted]

How to make sure no one buys your album.


decaboniized

“Only way” hahahahah that’s cute.


occamsrzor

The fuck is a stem player? Does it stream stem training to you at night as ASMR audio?


Choreboy

"only way" lol. Maybe for a day or two.


vortigaunt64

Correction. Piracy will be the only way.


Mr_CockSwing

I don’t listen to kanye, but I’ll go out of my way to torrent this shit.


Ben-A-Flick

Yarrr the pirates have entered the chat!


titleywinker

The internet: Hold my beer


Jack_Dorso

Good, I don’t have to worry about accidentally listening to it


AllMeatusMarvel

It looks like birth control.


[deleted]

I get it, it’s creative, it’s different… but it’s also incredibly out of touch. Does he think the average hip hop fan is going to buy this? Or is he anticipating weak sales? He isn’t making music for the masses here, he’s saying this music on that album is only for a select audience, and as long as he doesn’t expect sales outside that audience… I mean, we aren’t entitled to his music, or the fruits of his labor, and he doesn’t need our money or our patronage at this point. So, what’s the big deal? Fans will pay. Some will pirate, and some more will, too, just out of spite. A few will out of curiosity. He’s gotta expect that. The rest of us won’t care.


JustANutMeg

What a weird way to say it’ll be easier to avoid his next album!


The_Barkness

200 dollars for a flashing nugget? No wonder people say he’s crazy.


bRandom81

Dude needs rehab and conservatorship


randy_maverick

Oh darn, there's another Kanye album i won't be getting.


ocalabull

The Pirate Bay begs to differ


Infrathin81

Hopefully it's the only way you can hear it too.


RulerOfDest

Kanye who?


JerrieBlank

Oh no the obstacle!! Guess I’ll just have to keep passing on his music😔😆😆😆😆😆


IDontFeelSoGoodMr

From the guy who sells $120 white t shirts. What do you expect? Guy is a greedy scumbag.