Kanye Proved Accounting is a Multi-Trillion Dollar Market
Here’s how you can be a part of it
Written by Lance T. Mason (NY Licensed CPA)
When Kanye announced the STEM PLAYER he showed the world that there are trillions of dollars left to be captured in Accounting for the next generation - YES ACCOUNTING! How did he do that? I’m going to tell you…
First, it's important to understand a few things. What is the STEM PLAYER?
The STEM PLAYER allows you to “customize any song” or split the music into “stems.” This lets you control vocals, drums, bass, and samples; as well as isolate parts of the song and add effects.
Kanye released his album DONDA 2 on the STEM PLAYER. He charged $200 for the physical device and gave the album away for free. The STEM PLAYER was created by YEEZY TECH.
There has been confusion about what the device is and what you get for $200.
Is the platform $200?
Is the album $200?
Is this another Kanye money grab? I’m not going to get into that argument.
Instead, I want to talk about how the idea impacts the Accounting industry.
If you think the title of this article is clickbait, think again!
I’m going to describe the change taking place in Accounting, and how YOU as a CPA can take part in it. To summarize, if you are an Accountant who has the ability to think creatively, you should start applying that thinking to your career. But how?
The answer lies at the intersection of two topics: Technology and Transactions.
In an interview with Joe Rogan, Kanye mentioned that he was the CFO of Yeezy:
When he explained his role as CFO, he shared that he noticed transactions taking place that he didn’t approve.
First, the issue was the number of payment methods the company used. There were various open credit cards and outstanding checks.
In addition to payment methods, there were transactions the business was paying for that he was not aware of: Travel, consulting agreements, hotels, cars, food, and Netflix!
When he became CFO, he canceled ALL credit cards except for one.
For a moment, lets forget the fact that Kanye is talking about transactions. I know you’re aware that Accountants record transactions.
Instead, focus on the nonverbal response that he gives in the interview. He uses his hands to make a motion that shows how all of the expenses for Yeezy are now running through one card.
What other device runs all data through a single channel? That’s right, the STEM PLAYER.
The stem player is the CFO of the DONDA album. Just like Yeezy Inc has one credit card, all of his music has one channel. The public doesn’t get music until after it is centralized.
You could say this is Kanye being a control freak, but I’m not here to judge that aspect of it. What I do want to acknowledge is that as Accountants we rarely get the information we need.
If we get the information we need, we’re typically running around chasing people to find it. Working ungodly hours to do our job. Sometimes this is avoidable but other times there is a simple fix.
Centralize the data just like the STEM PLAYER does.
But it can’t be that easy, can it? And if it is that easy how do you actually begin to earn some of that $$$ in your career?
The answer is that any business that is built in this space will need the expertise of Accountants. One example is Expensify. Expensify is an expense management platform that solves the receipt management problem for local businesses.
Simply put, expense management for small businesses is in itself a trillion-dollar market, and CPAs are uniquely positioned to capture the value being created. These companies need us. But does that mean we just refer people to them and allow those companies to take the value that we create for them? NO.
““We ultimately feel like there’s a trillion-dollar opportunity there if someone can build a platform to link a billion people through their money. We feel it’s inevitable. And it’s going to look a lot more like Expensify than Concur.””
We think that Accountants need a way to position themselves to take advantage of this market opportunity and we know how you can.
COUNT is a company that makes interesting continuing education programs (CPE). Our goal is to help CPAs to chart a new career path - one where that is more exciting, fulfilling, and sustainable.
For example, we have courses on:
Computer Software: “Using the STEM PLAYER As an Analogy to Innovate in Accounting”
Internal Control: “The Risks of Kanye West Being the CFO of Yeezy”
…and more!
Register below! You’ll also be entered in a raffle to get a FREE STEM PLAYER!
