Our creative life
DECEMBER 17TH, 2025
When we compare where we were a year ago to where we are now, it's easier to see what’s changed than what’s stayed the same.
This is what mystics call being. Being is dynamic. Being is unpredictable. Being does not fit into a pre-defined box.
There were times this year we tried very hard to make ourselves fit into boxes. We wanted very much to be the understandable, normal thing that projects default to being. This felt like The Only Way.
The counterforces of karma thought otherwise. No matter how hard we pushed, something always pushed back. Our attempts at normalization landed flat.
"Why are we working so hard but it's not happening?" <- a constant thought.
Frustrated, we stopped trying to force it. Instead we made our work strong, then let go. What could it be as itself? Lo and behold, it began to grow.
This wasn't magic. It was the fruit of our earlier toil. What feels sudden is really an accumulation of experiences, understandings, coincidences coinciding.
This project is now four years old — 36 in human years. We're starting to come into our own. (One year of a creative life = 9 years of a human life.)
When we're young we have to work hard at everything. Every step we’re running through brick walls of unknowing. But as we get older and understand ourselves and what good work feels like, we accomplish more while seemingly working less. Energy becomes concentrated, purposeful. Work feels like not working at all.
We've never heard an artist talk about wanting a better work-life balance. For people like us, the act of making and exploring is what life is meant to be. What vacation could be more fulfilling than being in your studio without a clear direction, then, like magic, something happens?
Is there such a place?
This is the dance with the Source and the undercurrents of Truth that's there for every one of us. Each of us moving with our own distinct flavor and tune.
Metalabel's dance is about being together. Making cooperation easy. Making a new path others can join that makes creative togetherness as accessible and fulfilling as the competitive landscape we all know too well.
We've always known this was our path, but it’s also been a struggle. We didn't know how to express it. Others didn't understand or believe it. The gap between what we felt and what we could make was vast.
When we held on tight trying to force it, the truth within it resisted and pushed back. But as we've learned to listen and flow with the process of becoming, where we are and where we're going has become increasingly clear.
We hope this year brought you growth in your projects and practices, and that the new year will also bring the lessons we need to learn. We’re grateful to have shared this space and these metaphysical experiences with you.
We wanted to close with an overview of the year. Here are our major projects, releases, and learnings. Thank you for being part of them.
State of Metalabel
This was the biggest year yet for activity on Metalabel, with growth in dollars, collectors, and releases. There were:
- 450+ labels releasing work (+200% from last year)
- 982 releases (+250%)
- 2.7 releases / label (+44%)
- 18,600 unique collectors (+100%)
- 28,000 unique collects (+125%)
- $500,000+ spent by collectors (+30%)
A slew of great releases (see this list of 30 of our favorites) drove this activity, and found new ways to take advantage of the Metalabel product. Most notably, Mindy Seu's A SEXUAL HISTORY OF THE INTERNET introduced "Citational Splits," an innovative economic model built on a new treasury product we added. It's been exciting and encouraging to watch Metalabel become more established as a destination for creative work and communities.
State of Artist Corporations
This was the year we introduced the concept of Artist Corporations in a TED talk that's since been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
Since then:
- More than 4,000 artists and creators have signed on
- We hosted six events with the creative community in LA, NYC, Vancouver, and online
- We hosted several talks for community and political leaders in Colorado
- We’ve begun work on A-Corp legislation in two US states and have a bill in progress in one
There’s still a long road ahead, but we’re making progress. We'll share more in our first annual A-Corp letter, coming soon.
State of Dark Forest OS
This fall we announced our upcoming product, Dark Forest OS. This weekend we demoed DFOS IRL for the first time at the artist space Pioneer Works. Already more than 100 of us are in the first DFOS space together, pioneers in a new hidden world.
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Look for the first beta in the new year. Join the waitlist to be notified when it’s ready.
State of our squad
This year our team went from 10 people to 4, as hopes and timelines collided with cost structures and hard decisions. But we approached it as partners and collaborators bound together through this project for life, and grateful to collaborate with each other. Together we produced six releases this year:
- R.16 Anonymous Creative Futures Report 001
- R.17 New Creative Era podcast
- R.18 Spring/Summer: Profit sharing and open access
- R.19 On the Creative Life book
- R.20 Artist Corporations
- R.21 The Dark Forest OS
Shoutout to the full 2025 squad: Yancey Strickler, Rob Kalin, Ilya Yudanov, Brandon Valosek, Lena Imamura, Lauren Dorman, Erin Rimmer, Thaniya Keerepart, Clayton Kenney, Rayna Holmes, Jack Matthews, Simon Fung, Danielle Paterson, Dora Boras, Anthony Perasso, Tianna Lee, and Aleksey Duda. Love to you all.
Things we learned
When we reflect on all of this, there’s a handful of posts from throughout the year that encapsulated some of our biggest moments of learning and pain.
- What’s the difference between an artist and creator?
- The economics of self-publishing a book
- How to long game
- Releasing not posting
- The benefits of groupcore
We'll be carrying these lessons with us into the new year.
