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Stem Player
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Stem Player
The Stem Player is an audio remix device and music streaming platform developed by British technology company Kano Computing in collaboration with American artist Kanye West. The device was launched in August 2021 in conjunction with the release of his tenth studio album, Donda. In February 2022, West made an announcement that he would begin releasing music exclusively to the device, commencing with his eleventh studio album, Donda 2, that month.
The Stem Player has four touch-sensitive haptic sliders that adjust individual stems for tracks, and six hardware buttons for volume and effects. The device's service uses artificial intelligence to split tracks into four stems (sometimes isolated vocals, bass, and drums) with each track being able to be manipulated using a front slider. Users can add tracks to the device by uploading an audio file to the device through an official online web application.
Kano ended their collaboration with West in January 2023 in light of West's antisemitic remarks, and discontinued the Donda variant of the Stem Player. The company has collaborated with a variety of artists since, including Ghostface Killah, Bhavi, and a posthumous collection from J Dilla. West later released Donda 2 onto music streaming services in April 2025.
In January 2019, following an encounter within the company's booth at CES Technology Show in Las Vegas, Kanye West met company CEO Alex Klein and invited him over to his Calabasas home for breakfast. In an October 2019 interview with journalist Zane Lowe for Apple Music, West confirmed he was working on developing a portable stem player. That same month, Klein was credited as a writer on the track "Water" from West's ninth studio album, Jesus Is King, having contributed to its lyrics.
On August 25, 2021, the Stem Player launched for pre-sale with the initial name of "Donda Stem Player". The device began shipping to purchasers in October that year, pre-loaded with four tracks that would later be released on the deluxe edition of Donda, being "Life of the Party", "Never Abandon Your Family", "Up from the Ashes", and "Remote Control pt 2". On November 17, the Stem Player website was updated to include downloadable stems for Jesus Is King. On December 10, stems for "Wash Us in the Blood" were added in an update.
In February 2022, sixteen tracks from Donda 2 were available for the player.
In January 2023, in light of West's antisemitic remarks, Kano ended their collaboration with West and announced and that the Donda Stem Player would be discontinued after they sold through the remaining stock of 5,000 units. At the same time, Kano announced a new variant of the Stem Player developed in collaboration with Ghostface Killah. This version excluded any content related to Donda 2 or West's other music, and Klein stated in an interview with The Verge that no future editions will contain music by West. On April 8, 2023, a J Dilla skin for the Stem Player became available for pre-order on the website. It came with a 1-year subscription to all current and upcoming J Dilla-related content on the Stem Player website, including previously unreleased instrumentals from the producer.
In June 2023, Kano Computing, the company that developed the Stem Player, went into administration, and the business was acquired in a prepackaged transaction by Alex Klein. In August 2023, the newly established Stem company launched a new variant of the Stem Player developed with Bhavi featuring exclusive music.
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Stem Player AI simulator
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Stem Player
The Stem Player is an audio remix device and music streaming platform developed by British technology company Kano Computing in collaboration with American artist Kanye West. The device was launched in August 2021 in conjunction with the release of his tenth studio album, Donda. In February 2022, West made an announcement that he would begin releasing music exclusively to the device, commencing with his eleventh studio album, Donda 2, that month.
The Stem Player has four touch-sensitive haptic sliders that adjust individual stems for tracks, and six hardware buttons for volume and effects. The device's service uses artificial intelligence to split tracks into four stems (sometimes isolated vocals, bass, and drums) with each track being able to be manipulated using a front slider. Users can add tracks to the device by uploading an audio file to the device through an official online web application.
Kano ended their collaboration with West in January 2023 in light of West's antisemitic remarks, and discontinued the Donda variant of the Stem Player. The company has collaborated with a variety of artists since, including Ghostface Killah, Bhavi, and a posthumous collection from J Dilla. West later released Donda 2 onto music streaming services in April 2025.
In January 2019, following an encounter within the company's booth at CES Technology Show in Las Vegas, Kanye West met company CEO Alex Klein and invited him over to his Calabasas home for breakfast. In an October 2019 interview with journalist Zane Lowe for Apple Music, West confirmed he was working on developing a portable stem player. That same month, Klein was credited as a writer on the track "Water" from West's ninth studio album, Jesus Is King, having contributed to its lyrics.
On August 25, 2021, the Stem Player launched for pre-sale with the initial name of "Donda Stem Player". The device began shipping to purchasers in October that year, pre-loaded with four tracks that would later be released on the deluxe edition of Donda, being "Life of the Party", "Never Abandon Your Family", "Up from the Ashes", and "Remote Control pt 2". On November 17, the Stem Player website was updated to include downloadable stems for Jesus Is King. On December 10, stems for "Wash Us in the Blood" were added in an update.
In February 2022, sixteen tracks from Donda 2 were available for the player.
In January 2023, in light of West's antisemitic remarks, Kano ended their collaboration with West and announced and that the Donda Stem Player would be discontinued after they sold through the remaining stock of 5,000 units. At the same time, Kano announced a new variant of the Stem Player developed in collaboration with Ghostface Killah. This version excluded any content related to Donda 2 or West's other music, and Klein stated in an interview with The Verge that no future editions will contain music by West. On April 8, 2023, a J Dilla skin for the Stem Player became available for pre-order on the website. It came with a 1-year subscription to all current and upcoming J Dilla-related content on the Stem Player website, including previously unreleased instrumentals from the producer.
In June 2023, Kano Computing, the company that developed the Stem Player, went into administration, and the business was acquired in a prepackaged transaction by Alex Klein. In August 2023, the newly established Stem company launched a new variant of the Stem Player developed with Bhavi featuring exclusive music.
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