Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster

https://krystalgamer.github.io/stem-player-emulator/

by lmc • 4 years ago

87 41 4 years ago

krystalgamer.github.io

teddyh2• 4 years ago

It’s always weird when public figures (who are not engineers) try to develop sophisticated physical products. Of course it’s going to be terrible. It’s like if Google would, I don’t know, make an action movie. Or if, say, the Dalai Lama would launch his own brand of cars. It’s not what they do.

MaxDPS• 4 years ago

That’s not what happened here. Kanye essentially worked with an engineering company that specializes in these kinds of products.

teddyh2• 4 years ago

But as he is not an engineer himself, he does not know how to pick a good engineering company, nor how to evaluate their progress, or the end result.

elcomet• 4 years ago

What ? Kanye West is not developping the apps himself, he is just giving money and maybe the ideas. I don't see why it should be terrible.

And it's not what they do until it is. Amazon is making some decent movies and series.

sneak2• 4 years ago

Because software isn't something that you can just buy off the shelf given enough money, otherwise Bill Gates would have been Apple.

It also requires taste and vision, two things that Kanye West utterly lacks.

fragmede4• 4 years ago

You mean like Beats by Dre, who is also not an engineer, which was so terrible that Apple bought them for $3 Billion?

thomasfortes2• 4 years ago

Isn't Beats by Dre considered not top of the line when it comes to sound quality and more like a fashion brand?

I'm not saying that they are bad, just that they aren't at the same level as brands like bose and sennheiser which are way less focused on celebrities branding.

drcongo• 4 years ago

Beats are absolute dogshit for sound quality. So, yes.

solarkraft• 4 years ago

Weren't they bought for their music streaming service?

jamestimmins• 4 years ago

Reminds me of this classic review of Will.i.am's smart watch.

The review was...unflattering

https://www.theverge.com/2014/11/5/7162861/will-i-am-puls-sm....

zoltar• 4 years ago

Oh, right. The "Wassup, Googlers?" guy. He gave a tech talk at the Mountain View campus where he made a ringtone and then put it up online for sale for a buck.

Nothing will ever stop that guy from hustling.

pigtailgirl3• 4 years ago

-- Not sure what alleged role she is alleging - even after reading this 10,300 word essay - my understanding was that it's supposed to be a fun toy for the musically inclined (similar to teenage engineering products) - maybe i'm wrong - but it does fulfill that role perfectly - I sat on a 6 hour flight and did nothing but make tunes with my OP-Z and Stem Player - similar to TE products - the Stem Player is one of the most fun toys I've purchased as an adult - "I genuinely believe the Stem Player will be out of everyone's mind in a few months and will be remembered as that weird gadget ye shoved the fans' throat to access the album." - I don't even like Kanye West music - I've been playing with this thing weekly for months - again - it's a really fun toy --

fastball4• 4 years ago

I found all the hyphens in your comment distracting.

mkoryak• 4 years ago

Thanks for letting all of us know..

aliqot2• 4 years ago

It's likely an unordered list, due to the way HN handles line spacing if you don't do double line breaks.

CharlesW• 4 years ago

it's a really fun toy

I’ll take your word for it, but “consumer” is not the lens through which the author is critiquing the device.

pigtailgirl3• 4 years ago

-- 70% of the article is about their trash marketing - business model - and a host of other things unrelated to engineering - Additionally filled with hits like: "In summary, they ignore me as soon as I show any interest, which I don't take too kindly." - in my opinion - author has a bone to pick - and that's fine - never the less - the concussion to the essay is the device does not fulfill the role - however the role it's supposed to fulfill is never defined - so I was simply sharing the role is serves for me - and serves it well --

fragmede4• 4 years ago

What is that lense though? Plenty of the article isn't actually about engineering issues with the device, and seems to be a weird axe-grindy/PR hit piece because they were writing an emulator and their meatspace interaction didn't go according to the author's plans.

Maursault• 4 years ago

did nothing but make tunes

You mean you did nothing but create tracks of insufficient fidelity burdened with copyright issues. Mostly, I have to agree with you, but oranges are not apples, and what you've created can't be shopped or sold, and even if it could, the poor fidelity of the source tracks (whatever Stem player produces for you to use) would prevent market interest in all but lofi consumers within whatever genre it classifies as, if they exist. But you entertained yourself, and that is really all that is necessary to validate the product.

pigtailgirl3• 4 years ago

-- you missed the OP-Z part! =) --

wildzzz• 4 years ago

Sometimes people make music because it's fun, not because they are trying to create studio-quality songs and beats.

krystalgamer2• 4 years ago

that's a common thing I hear, "it fulfills its purpose". Doesn't excuse the limitations and that the website doesn't give you higher quality stems

It's interesting you call it a toy, the team behind it calls the next musical revolution. Your expectations were met, while the ones they set weren't.

kodah• 4 years ago

I think there's a disconnect between the information you collected and how OP views the device, which is telling. Having worked on "platforms" for most of my career, one thing I realized is that when you make a "platform" you start small, because as much as you may try to steer users they will decide what kind of product your product is.

I really enjoyed the post, I think it took me through every emotion I've ever felt as an engineer throughout my career. Also, the detail with which you went through how you reverse engineered the product was incredible. I learned a lot.

nothasan• 4 years ago

I remember downloading the stems from their API and the serial number checks were just length check of the parameter. Surprised that Donda 2 is still not available on any streaming platform.

totalview• 4 years ago

I’ve dreamed of a device similar to this since I was child. It would be thrilling to isolate different stems from classical or really synthy music. The device looks like it’s a brookstone product from the 2000s though…

fragmede4• 4 years ago

Stemroller (currently also on the front page) will do just that! (Well the isolation part. Putting them back together enjoyably is left as an exercise to the reader. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32359325

svnpenn• 4 years ago

Writer's Note: Kanye West has legally changed his name to ye. Excepting the title, I'll be referring to him as ye throughout the post.

Nope. Nope. Not going to do that.

pipeline_peak• 4 years ago

Neil Young develops Pono

Kanye develops Stem Player

Neil Young thinks he's more powerful than Spotify

Kanye thinks he's more powerful than Jesus

hmmm

genmon• 4 years ago

This is a cool story about reverse engineering a protocol… combined with some really unnecessary (and sexually graphic) insults of the Stem Player/Kano founder.

The combined hardware and service seems to be highly experimental, and this is a startup finding its way. Not to excuse erratic behaviour, but none of this feels out of the ordinary or worthy of this level of attack.

The coda at the end, about the failed attempt to work together, gives a possible explanation for the high level of saltiness. (And it should really be at the beginning by way of disclosure.) It’s a shame there wasn’t a culture fit between the parties.

krystalgamer2• 4 years ago

This is a cool story about reverse engineering a protocol…

I was suggested to do a two-parter, but to me it didn't feel right. I think the current layout allows for people who are mostly in for the tech to quit mid-way.

combined with some really unnecessary (and sexually graphic) insults of the Stem Player/Kano founder.

Understandable. For me it was cathartic, compiling their dirt and putting them in a neat package as in to show how under-prepared they actually are.

failed attempt to work together, gives a possible explanation for the high level of saltiness.

The problem wasn't the fallout but the fact I dropped what I was doing to really start with them on a good feet. The fact Alex wanted to talk to me on a Sunday afternoon resonated with me, but as soon as I was ready to on-board it seemed that were overwhelmed. I'm not saying they weren't, but my expectations were sky high.

In the end, dropping my project to help them bit me in the ass, which contributed to the bitterness.

And it should really be at the beginning by way of disclosure.

I wanted to do so, but at the same time I guess until "Stem Player or hype as a product" section is not as present. Also, a lot of people thought I got a lawsuit when I took the project down and I never told the story.

Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster

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