Metalabel is a release platform for creative work, built to help people create and share value together. We're creating new economic and operating models that help creative people cooperate rather than compete.
What we do
We provide the infrastructure for creative people to release their work as collectible editions on their own and in small groups. Each release is a contained creative statement that can be owned and collected. Revenues from releases are seamlessly distributed and split among collaborators.
Business model
We structured Metalabel to align with the artists, creators, and collectors who use it. We charge a simple 10% commission on each purchase through our platform. This sustains our infrastructure while ensuring creators keep the majority of value they create. There's no cost to building or maintaining your catalogue of work with Metalabel or releasing something for free. Artists and creators always keep ownership and rights to their work.
Since opening our doors in 2024, there have been:
500+ creators
150+ releases
8,000+ collectors
$350,000+ in creator earnings
Multiple releases with 500+ collectors
50% of creators with multiple releases
Origins
Seven collaborators around the world cofounded Metalabel in 2021-2022. Here's our founding story, as told by Yancey Strickler:
Metalabel started because I felt lonely as a creative person. I was leading a community, creating lots of content, and doing what I wanted. But I often felt isolated and unhappy doing it. I wanted creative peers but didn’t know how or where to find them.
Then one day I re-read the book “Our Band Could Be Your Life,” which tells the origin stories of punk and hardcore bands. Rather than wait for someone else to legitimize them, these bands legitimized themselves by starting their own labels, putting themselves out, and ultimately making scenes and something bigger than just them on their own.
I was also reading about the history of the Royal Society, a group of peers that literally created modern science starting in 1660 by publishing zines and funding each other’s projects. Like an indie label, but for science.
I suddenly realized a way for creative people to be part of something bigger than them had been around for literally centuries: the model of the grassroots label, but for any form of creative output. In my notes I called this larger structure a "metalabel."
In the months following, a small group of collaborators organically came together around this shared vision. Using the exact same model we had re-discovered, we began to release work that expressed the world we wanted to see: manifestos, zines, experiences, new ideas. Including the website you're visiting right now.
We want a world where creative people are more than stars — they're parts of larger constellations that have real power and agency of their own. As individuals our powers are limited. In groups we become stronger.
Metalabel was cofounded by Yancey Strickler, Rob Kalin, Ilya Yudanov, Austin Robey, Anna Bulbrook, Lauren Dorman, and Brandon Valosek
Team
Metalabel is supported by a small egalitarian team spread around the world.
Our squad includes the cofounders of Kickstarter, Etsy, and The Creative Independent; projects with Ableton, Berghain, The Kitchen, The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Patreon, Pitchfork, Red Bull Music Academy, TED, and The Village Voice; and first-hand experience making art, writing books, making music, publishing zines, and collaborating with others on creative work.
The squad, in order of appearance:
With invaluable support from our curators, collaborators, and investors, as well as our cofounders Austin Robey and Anna Bulbrook.
What Metalabel believes
Metalabel exists to help people create and share value together. These ideas drive this project:
- Legitimacy maxxing — Legitimacy is a form of capital. Metalabel provides new paths for creative people to self-legitimize and build credibility together.
- Context is queen — The value of creative work is shaped by its context. Metalabel elevates not just the what, but the how, who, and why behind creative output.
- World-building is self-care — Immersing ourselves in universes beyond the rational is a calling and source of inspiration. Metalabel is a space for world-building and identity play.
- Post-individualism — Being in community is necessary to a creative practice. Metalabel creates safe spaces and a new structure for human exchange.
- Post-platformism — People should own and control what they make on the web. Metalabel is a post-platform system built to allow artists, creators, and collectors to take their work with them.
- Administrative minimalism — Energy spent on administration is energy taken away from creating. Metalabel prioritizes methods and tools that minimize administrative overhead.
Our Path
A new space for artists and creators
- Creative people seizing control of how they release work
- The return of meaningful limited editions and collectibles
- Financial transparency through fair splits and shared credit
- A new space for creative work beyond the algorithm
A new model for creative power and wealth
- Labels become economic engines for creative communities
- New funding paths emerge outside traditional gatekeepers
- Creative people build collective wealth on their own terms
- Shared pools of resources fuel ambitious creative projects
A new creative era for all
- A powerful new structure for artists emerges in society at large
- Creative work flows freely across a post-platform internet
- Collective creative power rivals traditional institutions
- A sustainable path forward for creative people everywhere
Join Us
For general questions: hello@metalabel.com
For technical questions or brainstorming support: help@metalabel.com
Follow the updates: @metalabel__
Follow and go deeper: Our lore
We're building something new and meaningful. If you're interested in creating work that matters, we'd love to hear from you.