Give free a chance
Seeing through our Creative Hierarchy of Needs
What’s the point in offering our art for free? Why would anyone do that? Shouldn’t everything come with a price?
Offering something of value for free feels counterintuitive, but it could be the best thing you can do. It satisfies the most foundational hierarchies of our creative needs: to be seen, understood and recognized.
Money isn’t on the creative hierarchy of needs beyond basic needs of survival and its ability to give you more freedom to create. Financial ladders tend to be careerist objectives more than creative ones.
The overculture insists that we must be paid, that nothing’s for free, and we all must chase short-term rewards to pay the bills. But that drive can also be a disservice to our longer term goals and dreams for our art. Finding our voice and developing resonance with our audience allows us, in the long view, to have a healthy art practice. This approach means more experimentation and less cut-and-dry commerce.
That’s what we did with Metalabel. Our first release was a manifesto that shared our ideas. Second was an interactive tool that let you see yourself through a new lens. Third was a free educational cohort for collectives. Fourth was a free software tool. Fifth was a free digital magazine. It was only with our sixth release — After the Creator Economy — that we sold something for the first time. We were finding our voice.
As a collector I’m happy to pay for someone’s work once I’ve gotten a sense of what they’re about, or if someone else has recommended them. This is especially easy if I’m invited to engage with the work without having to pay first.
Other collectors like free work, too. Every day we see people collect free work by creators they discover on Metalabel. Free opens doors. Free helps people discover something new. The artist Ruby Bailey had a curator reach out after collecting a free edition of their video art on Metalabel. Train Songz started their 1,000+ zine audience by sending free copies to their followers.
Most free work on the internet today is served passively in a feed. On Metalabel people consciously choose to collect work, share their email, and establish a direct relationship with the artist and their practice. It’s not a passive exchange. It’s an intentional one. It’s more meaningful that way.
As more people do the same, a creator builds up a list of people who connect with their work, which helps them broaden, deepen, and otherwise increase the capacity and scope of what they do.
If you've never released a work before, offering something for free and gaining a list of people who are interested to read, listen, or otherwise engage with your work can be a valuable exchange. It can help you to make decisions for how to release work in the future.
This is what a healthy, growing creative practice looks like. Not a hockey stick graph. Not even a hierarchical pyramid like the one above. A healthy creative practice is a long process of discovery and acceptance. A burrow of tunnels underneath the surface that often lead somewhere unexpected, sometimes even into the light.
WHY COLLECT A FREE RELEASE?
Collecting a free release is a way of showing love to an artist and their work. Collectors get to share in the work, download the work, receive a special edition and collector number, and be notified of future releases by that creator.
EIGHT FREE RELEASES WE LIKE
01
REBECCA CLARK, “BOOK OF HOURS” (link)
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Digital artist books, Natural drawings, Thoughtful poetry and curation
WHAT IT IS: A digital monograph of sketches and watercolors interspersed with poems and meditations. 100+ collectors!
02
TRAIN SONGZ, “SUMMER ‘24, 04” (link)
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Physical zines, Bluegrass, Memes
WHAT IT IS: A fanzine around the musician Billy Strings, memes, and bluegrass music. Available for pay what you want, including free, yet more than 1,400 of the 1,500+ collectors have voluntarily chosen to pay and support a creator they love.
03
RUBY BAILEY, LOOBTOPIA _Chapter One: The Film (link)
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Explorations of self, Alt_identities, Doomscrolling as a lifestyle
WHAT IT IS: A work of downloadable video art that explores the nature of self on the internet.
04
METALABEL SQUAD: INTRODUCING METALABEL (link) +
AFTER THE CREATOR ECONOMY (link) + NINE CREATIVE MEDITATIONS (link)
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Origin stories, Treasure chests, .Zip files
WHAT IT IS: Metalabel has embraced the .zip file as a way to document our work and tell a richer digital story using free releases. Each of these captures an output by us, as well as the work that went into making the work.
Collect releases by the Metalabel squad
05
THE CREATIVE INDEPENDENT, “ON MAKING A LIVING AS AN ARTIST” (DIGITAL EDITION) (link) + “ON DEALING WITH CREATIVE ANXIETY” (DIGITAL EDITION) (link)
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Wisdom from the masters, Sharing knowledge, Creative kinship
WHAT IT IS: Digital editions of two zines printed by the beloved resource of emotional and practical advice for creative people.
Collect releases by The Creative Independent
06
GLASS MIRROR 001: WHAT IF??? (link)
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Collaborative publishing, Deep dives, Visions of the future
WHAT IT IS: A collaborative research journal by a group of creative practitioners exploring questions of today and anticipating what they might be in the future.
07
THEO PIANO, “BILLY BIRD” (link), “THE GREAT WAY IS NOT DIFFICULT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NO PREFERENCE” (link)
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Home recording, Soundscapes, Musical interludes
WHAT IT IS: A series of free .zip files and downloads of audio and other media featuring explorations by a solo musician.
08
YANCEY STRICKLER, “THE POST-INDIVIDUAL” (link) +
“THE DARK FOREST TRILOGY OF THE INTERNET” (link)
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Internet theories, Director’s cuts, Nerding out
WHAT IT IS: I’ve published two .zip file releases as pay-what-you-want collects. “The Post Individual” has 350 collectors to date, generating more than $1,000 in financial support to the Dark Forest Collective — all voluntarily by collectors.
DROP YOUR OWN RELEASE
Want to tell a deeper story about your work, experiment with a more intentional way of releasing and engaging, and express without the pressure of judgement?
MOMENT OF ZEN
Peace and love,
Metalabel
So so so true, I can totally relate to your words. I also feel like "free" - and pricing in general - are very subtle concepts. In a Fashion Show, the "freebies" become very sought after collectibles in the long run. Free advice can also become the beginning of a beautiful entrepreneurial adventure. And free gestures are often the ones we remember.
We should pay a premium for free :)
Free and paid are a bit too binary. We live in a system where access to money is a requirement and even “basic needs” are often not met even for those with salaries. I think it is dangerous to conflate an artist sharing process, discovery, and even some finished work with lead generation or giving people a “free” sample. Artists should feel good assigning value to their work at any level. Money is both a barrier and a means.