MBW's Stat Of The Week is a weekly series in which we highlight a single data point that needs the attention of the worldwide music industry. Cinq Music Group, a technology-driven record label, distribution, and rights management company, is a Stat Of The Week sponsor.
Will 2022 be regarded as the year that hip-hop icons taught the music industry vital lessons about the purchasing power of so-called "super fans"?
We learned last week that Snoop Dogg sold about $44 million in "stash box" NFTs relating to his new B.O.D.R. (Bacc On Death Row) album in just five days.
At standard industry royalty rates, Snoop's record would have to be streamed more than 11 billion times on platforms like Spotify to generate that number.
Another intriguing narrative is emerging: Kanye West (who now calls to himself as Ye) said in a media release yesterday (Saturday, February 19) that his Stem Player device had produced over $2 million in sales since Thursday (February 17).
Ye publicly revealed on Thursday that his new album, Donda 2, would be released exclusively through his Stem Player. At debut, the album will not be available (legally) on any streaming platforms.
Ye's Stem Player debuted in August of last year. It is a handheld circular device co-created by the artist's own Yeezy Tech that allows users to break the star's music (or their own music) into stems, isolating drums, vocals, bass, samples, and so on.
It also allows users to alter these stems / samples and construct loops from them, which means Ye fans can use his recordings as the foundation for new tunes.
Ye's Stem Player is available for $200 (US) / £200 (UK) online (through KanyeWest.com and stemplayer.com) (UK).
