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Kanye West Is Giving Up on CDs

By
Ben Geier
Ben Geier
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By
Ben Geier
Ben Geier
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March 7, 2016, 1:51 PM ET
2015 MTV Video Music Awards - Show
Kanye West speaks onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards held at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Photograph by Michael Tran—FilmMagic/Getty Images

Kanye West is done with physical media.

The rapper, who has been making all sorts of waves for the past month, wrote on Monday that he is considering completely giving up on pressing physical CDs. His most recent project, The Life of Pablo was released only on the streaming site Tidal.

CD sales have been going down in recent years, thanks to both streaming services like Tidal and Spotify and digital downloads from Amazon and Apple’s iTunes. For a major superstar like Kanye to completely give up on the medium, though, could signify a real shift for the music industry.

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/706894783705432064

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/706895269984673792

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/706895554471657472

Kanye, of course, likes to change his mind a lot, so don’t be surprised if next week he tweets that all future releases will only come out on 8-track tapes.

About the Author
By Ben Geier
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