Creative work is changing in ways you can feel good about
The power of releasing, why small is beautiful, and the advantages of cooperation
2024 was a year that challenged how creative people share and value their work. Careers and followings rose and fell with the demise and emergence of platforms. Plans pivoted with the whimsical shifts of the algorithmic gods. AI loomed as a constant threat and temptation — the easier path to passable mediocrity.
Through all of it we noticed three changes and new possibilities that make us excited for the future. A new playbook we can all learn from.
#1: Releasing vs posting
After years of turning everything into social media, this was the year we and others learned the difference between posting and releasing.
Posting operates on a social media metabolism — chasing metrics, feeding algorithms, optimizing for immediate attention. This approach can drive short-term engagement, but it often traps us in an exhausting cycle of constant content production (we’ve been there).
Releasing treats creative work as a lasting cultural contribution. When you release work, you:
Frame it with intentional context
Create meaningful ceremony around its launch
Price it according to its value
Invite the public to own and participate in it
Releasing encourages you to operate on your own clock. You release what you want, when you want. Not because you think you have to.
Releasing doesn’t mean abandoning posting or the market entirely. The most resilient creators know when to play the algorithm's game and when to create on their own terms. A releasing mindset helps open up this dual path.
#2: Small collaborative groups rise tides
The past year revealed the surprising advantages of small, tight-knit creative groups over both solo creators and larger organizations. The Dark Forest Collective, Hard Art, Do Not Research, Worst Generation, Network Archives, and Sublime are a few of the many groups we saw do this.
These aligned groups of creators are able to punch above their weight because:
Small collectives can achieve outsized impact with coordinated planning
Collaborative drops benefit from many narrative entry points that can generate more sustained interest
When multiple accounts post about something viewers give the message added weight (as bot networks and public influence campaigns show)
Small collaborative groups unlock the sweet spot between coordination and independence. Small enough to move quickly and maintain quality, while large enough to benefit from network effects in distribution.
#3: The rise of cooperative economics
There have been early signs of a new economic model that rewards collaboration. We encountered first-hand a number of releases that shared these characteristics:
Revenue sharing structures that align incentives across team members
Collective ownership of intellectual property
Coordinated promotion across multiple channels
Shared investment in long-term outcomes
When individual creators are struggling with platform dependence and existing institutions are becoming bigger or faltering, it’s important for people to be able to build shared economies for themselves.
The outcomes we’re already seeing through splits on Metalabel are encouraging — thousands of dollars automatically flowing within small groups and growing shared treasuries for future projects. This is an encouraging sign for the future.
Looking forward
These changes suggest a future creative ecosystem where:
Artists and creators use more intentional release strategies to invite direct support while using the algorithm for their own goals
Smaller, more focused creative groups that mutually support each other become a new norm rather than just individual creators
Economic models that reward cooperation and long-term thinking let people think bigger than ever
Amid the uncertainty, we’re optimistic about what’s ahead.
What about you? How are you feeling about 2025? We’re doing an editorial survey for an upcoming Metalabel release about the future. Tell us what you’re thinking about here:
Now onto this week’s new releases.
For people who ace the marshmallow test
Heretique, The Egg - a time capsule
Hérétique is a Paris-based project that operates at the crossroads between a think-tank, development studio, and publishing house. Their Egg release is an elegant design object with a functional twist: seal an object inside, set an opening date, and the Egg will stay closed and automatically hatch then. Limited run of ten editions.
For critical anime fans
Noura Tafeche, The Kawayoku Inception
The latest from Slovenia-based art & technology publisher Aksioma, The Kawayoku Inception is a meticulously creative video work building on Noura Tafeche’s book of the same title. Think analysis of cuteness culture, digital warfare, and the aestheticisation of violence in ways you could never expect.
Collect The Kawakoyu Inception
For the Gen Z enthusiasts
Joshua Citerella, Politigram and the Post-left
Artist, internet writer, and Metalabel curator Joshua Citerella is back with a new release, this time focused on how Gen Z explores radical politics through memetics. First published as an extremely limited artist book in 2018 distributed only by DM and email, Politigram and the Post-left is now available for all as an open edition in print.
For anyone obsessed with being first on Letterboxd
Filmmakers Jourden Fenner and Agnes Tersman join together as multimedia lifestyle art house New30 for this new melancholy drama short film made in Sweden and Denmark. Currently released online across Metalabel and Youtube, collectors can screen the film before its IRL debut in 2025.
For when you wish life was a FKA Twigs music video
After contributing to the Open Secret Zine earlier this year, post-disciplinary artist Hannah Cobb brings us a slate of new limited edition prints to close out 2024. Combining 3D software, AI tools, and illustration, Cobb bridges the bio and the BIOS in physical print.
For when you want a really good backstory
Earlier in the fall Incidental Container, an exhibition featuring works originally installed in a CubeSmart self-storage unit as part of a meta-work about the essence of containers, opened in a small gallery inside a NYC subway station. We and Spencer Chang attended the show, meeting Jason Isolini, the curator and organizer. The output is a very cool clear tote featuring the html code of the self-storage unit virtual tour printed on its exterior. Try to out-meta that!
Reminder!
How are you feeling about 2025? We’re doing an editorial survey for an upcoming Metalabel release about the future.
Tell us what you’re thinking about here:
<3
Metalabel
Releasing?
Just please don't call it a "drop" or I'll show my backhand
Oh thank you so much for this. For a while I thought there was only doom it’s so good to hear that my ideas resonate here too. I’m not alone!
If anyone would like to help me reimagine the world, to maximize entropy, DM me!