Rethinking labels: the origins of Metalabel

Second, unlike “Creator Economy” platforms that monetize work that’s already been made, labels typically provide money and creative support for people and projects at an early stage. Labels share in risks and rewards.

Every metalabel shares four core elements that shape their behavior and output. There’s (1) a core purpose why they exist; (2) a squad of collaborators who operate and release projects with the label; (3) public releases they put out into the world to express their worldview; and (4) rules for participation, like how they make decisions, who owns w... See more

metalabels are startups and institutions for culture.

A metalabel is like an indie record label, but for all forms of art, culture, and ideas. A book publisher, a local collaborative creative project, an online community, an activist movement, an artist collective, a record label, and other collective cultural projects are examples of metalabels: groups of people using a shared identity for a shared p... See more

The Creator Economy is creativity in single player mode. It's every creator for themselves, with the algorithms encouraging people to perpetually make as much content as quickly as possible. In contrast, a metalabel is creativity in multiplayer mode. It's a system optimized for mutual aid and support for people collaborating on things tog... See more

The Wide Awakes are a group of artists and activists who created an open source network for politically engaging art and experiences, all of which are released under the Wide Awakes name. This has produced diverse projects like a mobile soup kitchen, public art installations, parties, and activist campaigns by a wide group of people sharing resourc... See more

Third, labels provide their releases a stamp of approval and a context to exist within. The best labels lift their projects up by association.

A lot of journalists have spilled a lot of ink trying to make sense of MSCHF – is it a company? A brand? An art project? MSCHF is a metalabel whose purpose is to reveal how manipulative capitalism is, using the tools of capitalism and commerce to demonstrate it in new ways every other week. The metalabel structure is crucial to how they function. I... See more

At a high level, a metalabel is a group of people using a common identity for a common purpose with a focus on public releases that manifest their worldview.