Next steps towards a New Creative Era
Why does Metalabel exist?
Why does Metalabel exist? What is it here to do?
This project was born out of a loneliness I felt as a creative person. Even while I had thousands of “followers” as a writer, I lacked creative peers to collaborate with in a deeper way. It made me feel unhappy, unsatisfied, and alone.
My search for ways to change that made me see the idea of a “label” in a new way. Not something that only exists for music, but a flexible container that any group of creative people could use to make something bigger than them. A structure and way of thinking that even unlocked powerful new ways of working on my own.
Metalabel started with me by myself. But everything since has been collaborators, peers, and friends working together. Metalabel is a group effort. A constant flow between the small group of us who make up the squad and the growing community of artists and creators releasing with us.
Though this work is just beginning, it’s working. Already on Metalabel, hundreds of creators have been paid upside from their releases through our Splits product. Dozens of labels and collectives are building treasuries of shared resources. The start of a New Creative Era.
New home, new era
As the builders and stewards of Metalabel, we’ve had front row seats to everything going on. With a new homepage that we’re introducing today, we’re making it so everyone can see what a New Creative Era looks like in practice.
Our new homepage and discovery experience are much deeper than before. You can dive into sections for trending work, new releases, thematic channels (here’s a channel of artist books, for example), and deeper context about what’s here. There are blurbs by us about what we’re finding and enjoying. We’ll soon be making room for collectors to share their picks, too, and give more of a spotlight to the people releasing and collecting in this space.
Where we’re heading
This homepage is a step in a bigger vision of a New Creative Era that starts with the basics we all need now: making it feel more fulfilling, less lonely, and more rewarding (emotionally, socially, materially) to release creative work. That’s what the squad here at Metalabel works on everyday, building tools and directly supporting artists, creators, and collectors.
Next year we'll introduce our most ambitious ideas yet: new structures that we think could fundamentally transform how creative people organize and build wealth for centuries (no joke) to come. A future where creative people aren't on the periphery of society, but are its leaders.
The New Creative Era isn't just some future thing. It's already here, being built by creative people like us who no longer accept the status quo. People like me. People like you. Like Brian Eno. Like Shantell Martin. Like the dozens of artists and creators who make up this week’s new releases, and the hundreds of collectors who will support them. All of us, together, writing the next chapter of our collective creative history.
We invite you to join this movement. Release your work. Support others. Help build a future where creative people have the power and resources to shape culture on our own terms.
Much much more to come on all of this. First, here’s what’s catching our eye this week. — Yancey
ON ROTATION
01
Rhizome, “Internet” hat
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Headwear, The Internet, Supporting digital art
WHAT IT IS: Rhizome is a NYC-based institution that’s long championed the power of digital art, from their 7x7 series to their digital restoration and preservation work. This week Rhizome opens up their membership with the introduction of the must-have headwear of the 2020s: a hat with the word “internet” on it. Just $40, limited edition, exclusively on Metalabel, and it comes with an annual membership to Rhizome. No-brainer!
Collect “Internet” hat
02
The Worst Generation, “The Worst Generation Master Collection”
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Storage-unit freestyles, Limewire-era full catalog downloads, Anime references
WHAT IT IS: A new release from an artist in our Fall-Winter collection: the rapper and creator Black Dave. The Worst Generation is a quintessential example of the power in the collective. Six artists experimenting with bold, genreless music over a decade-plus, and doing it together. Now they make their prolific catalog available for new fans and old in a big, completist drop you’ll want to explore cover-to-cover.
Collect The Worst Generation
03
Sublime, Whoa, Vol 1
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Collective intelligence, First-person experience, Curated wisdom
WHAT IT IS: Sublime is a knowledge tool and network that we’re big fans of at Metalabel. Not only does their space collect great knowledge, their weekly newsletter and frequent interviews with entrepreneurs and practitioners is one of our most relied-on sources of emotional and practical support. Whoa, Vol 1 is a new print publication that collects a dozen conversations with some of the most important builders and thinkers working today, now on its second release due to instant popularity. Read an excerpt from our interview in the zine here.
Collect Sublime
04
Tibor/Do Not Research, “Extremely Online Delft Blue”
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: 4Chan-inspired bathroom remodels, Old media forms starring new media subjects, Ceramics
WHAT IT IS: Last week one of the wildest projects to grace our servers hit Metalabel: a series of beautiful blue Dutch tiles featuring very unexpected online images. Amazingly, the limited-edition collection sold out in less than an hour, making it the second release to sell out last week without us managing to collect a copy. (We’re slipping, apparently, but also a great sign.) Here’s hoping for a second run.
Explore “Extremely Online Delft Blue” (SOLD OUT)
05
MURDERPACT x TRNGS x Mark Fingerhut x Brian Mark, “BOOSTED.exe”
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Malware but good, Multi-sensory visualizers, Hypnosis
WHAT IT IS: A multi-year collaboration between Brooklyn-based musicians MURDERPACT and TRNGS, digital artist Mark Fingerhut, and graphic designer Brian Mark culminates into an audio-visual album made into a possessed .exe file that spawns a tightly orchestrated piece of malware and audio-visual experience. Released by the great label 29 Speedway. Wild!
Collect “Boosted.exe”
06
“APEX ZINE”
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Trend criticism, Being chronically online AND self-aware, Fantasy over cynicism
WHAT IT IS: Multi-disciplinary creative Andrea Evgenieva takes the perpetual slog of online trends and memes and looks from a different angle. How are our digital identities being shaped in the process? Evgenieva posits answers that point to acceleration and tech synergy in this new zine.
Collect “APEX”
07
Aksioma, A Short Incomplete History of Technologies That Scale
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Simulations, Critical map analysis, Thinking beyond individualism
WHAT IT IS: The newest release from Aksioma, Institute for Contemporary Art in Slovenia. Eight authors prod at different perspectives on scalar thinking in a series of essays to expand our understanding of scale to the more-than-human, trace its movements and frictions through histories, and question the way scale generates political power.
Collect “A Short Incomplete History…”
08
Morgane Billuart, Cycles, The Sacred and the Doomed: Inquiries in Female Health Technologies
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Functional medicine mixed with modern innovation, Proof you’re not crazy
WHAT IT IS: In the 21st century, as technology purports to comprehensively assess and address women’s conditions and physical discomfort, Cycles, the Sacred and the Doomed delves deeply into the realm of female health technologies, revealing a space where science, holistic methods, and mythology converge.
Collect “Inquires in Female Health Technologies”
09
Laura Welker, “Evil Eye Candles”
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Spiritual protection, Body studies, Magical thinking
WHAT IT IS: Artist Laura Welker debuts the "Evil Eye" candle series, a first edition of five, singular hand-crafted candles that embody the protective symbolism of the evil eye. Designed to be collected as art objects or thoughtfully enjoyed when lit.
Collect “Evil Eye Candles”
2025 = Your Vision + Our Vision
In the new year, we’ll debut a new collection of artists and releases that we’ll help champion. Slots are limited. To be part of the New Creative Era and collaborate with the Metalabel squad, tell us what you’re up to here: