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Kanye West's 'Donda' Album Debut Breaks Apple Music Livestream Record

Apple Music last week teamed up with Kanye West for a global livestream of the premiere of West's latest album, "Donda."

kanye west apple music album livestream
The exclusive livestream saw 3.3 million viewers tune in, which TMZ says is a new ‌Apple Music‌ record. This is apparently a record that "no artist has ever come near."

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Ye's album event this past week at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta broke the Apple Music Global Livestream record ... with 3.3 million viewers who tuned in on their screens.

The prior record was 1.8 million viewers for a Verzuz battle between Gucci Mane and Jeezy that was livestreamed last year.

Apple streamed the album's debut from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, and the event was highlighted in a Beats Studio Buds ad that aired during the NBA finals.

Kanye West's "Donda" album has not yet been released, but it is expected to come out on August 6. The livestream of the album's debut is expected to be available on ‌Apple Music‌ after the album drops.

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Top Rated Comments

61 months ago
Weird...
Macrumors commenters told me that nobody would care...
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Think|Different Avatar
61 months ago

You heard it and didn’t like it, or…
Don't try to understand it – they clearly listen to music that we could only dream of. It must be so underground that we'd be lucky to hear it ourselves in the next 10 years. I'm just thrilled we came across such a visionary of musical curation – and on a Monday, at that!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lazyrighteye Avatar
61 months ago
Here for the tsunami of open-minded music/art critics. Looking forward to their sage opinion.
Incoming Kanye love in 3... 2... 1...
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rychiar Avatar
61 months ago
proving once again the mainstream populous has horrid taste in music...
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️ Avatar
61 months ago

Don't try to understand it – they clearly listen to music that we could only dream of. It must be so underground that we'd be lucky to hear it ourselves in the next 10 years. I'm just thrilled we came across such a visionary of musical curation – and on a Monday, at that!
Hate him or love him. He does make great music. I'm not a big fan of Kanye but I do respect his work. It's very creative.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Darth Tulhu Avatar
61 months ago

proving once again the mainstream populous has horrid taste in music...
The music I still listen to was mainstream at some point in history (I'm an early 80's and early 90's alt/punk/metal/grunge/rock fan). I'm also non-white, which makes it jarring for many Americans of different backgrounds to see someone who looks like me not listening to Kanye but instead wearing a Tool shirt or listening to Mastodon or Black Flag when I roll up to the drive-thru window.

I remember a concert-going kid in the Metallica documentary for the Black Album stating: "Every generation will scorn the next, and their music". It struck me when I heard it back then.

Lately there isn't a day that goes by when I don't think about how wise and prophetic that statement was.

I say let the kids have and enjoy their music.

There's still folks around, both young and old, making "ours".
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)