Given how much media has become about the individual creator, I’ve long wondered about a tension that has arisen out of the internet’s transformation of the creative economy:

Are we just headed to a world where the power law of large individual creators with the biggest audiences have all the leverage and rarely collaborate with anyone else?

Or can there be world where we still get the benefits of being a part of brands, labels, collectives, or simply collaborations?

Yancey Strickler has spent his life and work thinking about creativity, individualism, the internet, and how we make things alone and together. A huge part of that was with Kickstarter, and now its Metalabel and the seeds of a new corporate structure, along with lots of other writing and creating in the process.

I talked to him all about this tension, and about how individualism and collective creation can fit together: we are all stars, and yet we ought to see to become part of constellations that can shine even brighter. I hope you enjoy!

Dialectic Ep. 20: Yancey Strickler - Constellations of Creativity

Dialectic Episode 20: Yancey Strickler - Constellations of Creativity - is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Yancey Strickler (Website, X, Metalabel) is a writer, entrepreneur, creative, and founder of Metalabel, a network and platform that allows creative people to release work together. He is also a board member, co-founder and former CEO of Kickstarter and is currently working on establishing a new kind of corporate structure, the Artist Corporation.

Yancey's life and work has revolved around what it means to be a creative individual, and how to improve the cultural and mechanical forms that enable artists and creatives.

We talk about how much of modern society is rooted in individualism, how that wasn't always the case, and how the internet is evolving our sense of self. We get into creativity, the term's surprisingly recent origins, and why Yancey believes the 21st will be the "Creative Century." Then, we go beyond the individual and discuss the deeply-rooted longing that all of us have to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Yancey suggests that is not simply about being subsumed by a collective, but by maintaining our individual star while becoming part of large constellations—like the labels that have empowered the distribution of ideas for centuries. Finally, we discuss the forms Yancey has or is helping to build and imagine a future where even more of the world creates professionally.

May we all shine more brightly and find others who inspire us to make wonderful things.

Full transcript on dialectic.fm

This episode is brought to you by Hampton, a private, highly vetted membership for founders. Hampton surveyed over 100 members with net worths of $1M-100M to create its 2024 Wealth Report. They asked about financial goals, spending habits, how much founders themselves, investment portfolio breakdowns, risk tolerance, estate planning and philanthropy, and more. Visit https://joinhampton.com/community to access the report.

Timestamps

1:41: Individualism, Identity, and the Internet
19:13: Creativity — Its Origins, Art, and Reaching Toward Something Deeper
33:30: The Creative Century and a Case for the Continued Growth of Professional Creativity
38:27: Hampton
40:02: Something Bigger than Ourselves — The Post-Individual, Bentoism, Being a Star and a Constellation
51:51: Labels & Conspiring Together in Practice
1:07:15: New Forms & Kickstarter
1:18:44: Metalabel
1:31:56: Creativity and Commerce & A Brand New Form: The Artist Corporation
1:46:22: The Long Game: Supporting the Artistic and Creative Life

Links & References

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Yancey Strickler on Creativity…