First Artist Corporations Community Call

Yancey Strickler presents the vision and legal framework for Artist Corporations (A-Corps), a new corporate structure designed to empower artists and creators in the creative economy. | Published Sep 17, 2025 by Metalabel

Artist Corporations: The Vision, Law & Movement

Key Insights

• A-Corps are a new corporate structure designed specifically for artists and creators, combining benefits of various existing structures while addressing their limitations.

• The structure provides artists with flexible access to capital, built-in ownership sharing, and high creative control while maintaining intellectual property rights.

• A-Corps are fundamentally LLCs with special provisions, allowing creative enterprises to issue shares like C-Corps without the double taxation burden.

• Eligibility requires at least 51% ownership/control by artists or creators, with clear definitions of qualifying creative work and simple verification criteria.

• The initiative aims to legitimize creative work economically and create pathways for artists to build wealth through equity and shared ownership.

• The draft law proposes starting with a pilot program limited to 250 A-Corps in one state, with plans to expand state by state similar to Public Benefit Corporations.

• Success depends on building a grassroots movement of artists and creators sharing their stories and advocating for legislative adoption.

0:00 | Introduction and the Creative Century

“We are here together on a project that's about building the creative century. When I say the creative century, I mean this period of time where the lives and livelihoods of creative people are better resourced than ever.”

Yancey Strickler opens the first community call for Artist Corporations by introducing his vision of the "creative century" - a time when creative people have better resources and greater influence in society.

He shares his personal background growing up as the son of a musician and his journey through music journalism to co-founding Kickstarter, which has processed $9 billion in pledges across 285,000 successfully funded projects.

Strickler explains how his experience at Kickstarter, particularly converting it to a Public Benefit Corporation in 2015, led to his thinking about value beyond traditional profit motives.

He introduces his concept of "Bentoism" (Beyond Near-Term Orientation) - a framework for considering value across four dimensions: now me, future me, now us, and future us.

Takeaways

• The "creative century" envisions a future where creative people are better resourced and more influential in society and the economy.

• Kickstarter's success (285,000 funded projects, $9 billion in pledges) demonstrates the potential scale of creative economic impact.

• Strickler's background bridges music, entrepreneurship, and alternative corporate structures.

• His "Bentoism" framework provides the philosophical foundation for thinking beyond short-term individual profit motives.

5:20 | From Burnout to Metalabel

“I hit a place of burnout because I was just trying to make this thing a hit. I was living and dying with each email, each podcast. I would ask people to help support the work, but it never quite felt like partnership.”

Strickler describes his experience with burnout while trying to develop Bentoism as a solo creator, which led him to seek more collaborative models.

Inspired by the DIY ethos of punk and hardcore bands documented in the book "Our Band Could Be Your Life," he observed how independent artists could amplify each other by creating shared labels and identities.

This insight led to the creation of Metalabel - a platform where multiple creators can come together under a shared identity, release work collectively, and automatically split earnings.

Metalabel provides the technical infrastructure for creative collaboration, addressing the isolation many creators feel and enabling "multiplayer mode" rather than solo creative careers.

Takeaways

• Creator burnout often results from isolation and the pressure of individual success metrics.

• The punk/hardcore DIY model demonstrates how creative communities can share resources and amplify each other's work.

• Metalabel provides technical infrastructure for creative collaborations with automatic revenue sharing.

• The shift from "single player" to "multiplayer mode" can make creative careers more sustainable.

8:16 | The Need for New Creative Economic Infrastructure

“Even though the creator economy is growing a lot, even though almost half of all Americans have a creative practice, there is no capitalism for creative people.”

Strickler articulates the fundamental economic problem facing artists and creators - the lack of appropriate economic infrastructure.

Despite the growth of the creator economy and widespread creative practices, artists operate in what he describes as an "old-school Adam Smith economy" rather than having access to the wealth accumulation mechanisms of modern capitalism.

He explains that the issue isn't just systemic but specifically that creative people don't have suitable structures to exist within the current economic system.

This leads to his analysis of existing corporate structures (LLCs, S-Corps, C-Corps, nonprofits) and their limitations for creative enterprises, setting up the case for why a new structure is needed.

Takeaways

• Despite the growth of the creator economy, artists lack appropriate economic infrastructure.

• Unlike traditional businesses, creative enterprises can't easily access wealth accumulation mechanisms of modern capitalism.

• Existing corporate structures (LLCs, S-Corps, C-Corps, nonprofits) all have significant limitations for creative enterprises.

• Artists often face a false binary choice between for-profit and nonprofit structures.

13:34 | A-Corps: Features and Benefits

“As an ACORP, the way that we have written this law, it has very flexible access to capital, ownership sharing built in, flexible taxes, high creative control, and the ability to pool benefits within an ACORP structure.”

Strickler introduces the concept of Artist Corporations (A-Corps) and outlines their key features as designed in the draft legislation.

A-Corps combine flexible access to capital (including both investment and grants), built-in ownership sharing through equity, tax flexibility, high creative control, and the ability for multiple A-Corps to pool resources for benefits like health insurance.

He explains that the structure addresses creative people's need for equity and proper ownership distribution, which he identifies as an urgent need.

The A-Corp is designed specifically for creative work and doesn't need to be profit-motivated, making it more suitable for artistic endeavors than traditional corporate structures.

Takeaways

• A-Corps enable flexible capital access through both investments and grants without forcing a binary choice.

• Built-in ownership sharing through equity allows proper distribution of value among collaborators.

• The structure maintains high creative control while enabling economic participation.

• Multiple A-Corps could pool resources for shared benefits like health insurance.

• The structure is designed specifically for creative work rather than adapting business structures.

18:50| Legal Structure and Eligibility

“An ACORP is an LLC underneath with certain special provisions on top. For ACORPs, operating agreements could be created through drop-down menus and checkboxes, and that can count as a legal standard operating agreement.”

Strickler details the legal foundation of A-Corps as fundamentally LLCs with special provisions.

A key innovation is the simplification of formation through user-friendly interfaces - allowing creators to generate legal operating agreements through simple forms rather than complex legal documents.

A-Corps can be structured with flexible governance models, from single-leader to democratic cooperatives, accommodating various creative enterprises.

He outlines specific eligibility requirements: an A-Corp must be at least 51% owned/controlled by artists or creators, defined as individuals whose principal work involves creating original artistic, cultural, or media works.

To qualify as an artist/creator, individuals need to meet at least two criteria from a list including evidence of creative output, documentation of revenue from creative work, membership in professional organizations, enrollment in arts education, or maintaining a public portfolio.

Takeaways

• A-Corps are legally LLCs with special provisions, simplifying formation through user-friendly interfaces.

• Governance can be flexible - from single-leader to board-led to fully democratic models.

• Eligibility requires 51% ownership/control by artists or creators, with clear definitions.

• Qualification as an artist/creator has a deliberately low threshold to include emerging creators.

28:36| Implementation Strategy and Movement Building

“I very ambitiously want to try to pass the first law as soon as next year or the year after that. The amount of time for the first PBC law to be passed after the idea was first proposed was 12 years. So we're trying to go faster.”

Strickler outlines the implementation strategy for A-Corps legislation, aiming to pass the first state law within 1-2 years.

He notes this is ambitious compared to the 12-year timeline for the first Public Benefit Corporation laws but believes they've laid groundwork that A-Corps can build upon.

The initial draft law proposes a pilot program limited to 250 A-Corps in one state, with plans to publish comprehensive documentation including a 40-page white paper that others can use to advance similar legislation in other states.

The strategy involves a grassroots movement approach, with the ACORP Foundation (a nonprofit) providing support tools and standard documents.

Strickler emphasizes that the initiative is designed as a win for multiple stakeholders - artists, business, culture, and the economy - presenting it as an inevitable and necessary evolution for the creative economy.

He envisions community calls, campaigns, and collaborative storytelling as key to building momentum.

Takeaways

• The implementation strategy targets passing the first state law within 1-2 years as a pilot program.

• Initial legislation would limit A-Corps to 250 entities to test the model before broader adoption.

• The approach follows the state-by-state strategy used for Public Benefit Corporations.

• Success depends on grassroots movement building through collaborative storytelling and advocacy.

• The ACORP Foundation will develop support tools and standard documents to facilitate adoption.

33:56 | Vision for the Creative Economy

“I think by the end of this century I can really foresee that the A economy is neck-and-neck with the C economy, and that the place of artists has risen significantly in society, and that we create a culture of investing in each other.”

In the concluding section, Strickler articulates his long-term vision for A-Corps and the creative economy.

He sees A-Corps becoming the foundation for an entirely new economic sector - "A-Corp capitalism" - that could eventually compete with traditional C-Corp capitalism.

This new economy would reflect creative and cultural values while providing both recognition and financial rewards for artists.

He envisions a future where successful artists become major investors and benefactors for emerging talent, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of creative investment.

His vision positions the creative economy as a distinctive and powerful force, particularly important in a world facing increased genericization through AI and mass production, where original voices and ideas will stand out and gain value.

Takeaways

• The long-term vision sees A-Corps creating an entirely new economic sector competing with traditional corporate capitalism.

• Success would enable artists to receive both recognition ("flowers") and financial rewards.

• A key goal is creating a self-reinforcing cycle where successful creators invest in emerging talent.

• The creative economy gains particular importance as AI and mass production increase the value of original voices and ideas.

Conclusion

The Artist Corporations initiative represents a bold attempt to create economic infrastructure specifically designed for creative work in the 21st century.

By addressing the limitations of existing corporate structures while maintaining the flexibility creative enterprises need, A-Corps could fundamentally transform how artists build sustainable careers and accumulate wealth.

The proposal sits at the intersection of legal innovation, economic empowerment, and cultural legitimization.

If successful, it could rebalance power dynamics between artists and traditional gatekeepers by enabling creators to maintain ownership of their work while accessing diverse capital sources.

This infrastructure could prove especially critical as AI and automation increase the value of human creativity and originality.

The creative economy is growing rapidly but lacks appropriate economic infrastructure to match its cultural impact.

A-Corps offer a practical pathway to legitimize creative work economically while preserving artistic values.

For artists and creators, this represents an opportunity to collectively advocate for structural change rather than individual workarounds to a system not designed for creative work.

The initiative invites creative people to join a movement that could fundamentally transform their economic position in society.

Get Update. Get Involved.

We're inviting and looking for:

• Entrepreneurs, Musicians and Creators: creators of value, innovators and music makers and performers (new, old and everything in between).

• Music Lovers and Fans: real lovers of music and fans of those that make it.

• Partners: funders, supporters and connectors.

Here's how you can get updates and get involved.

You can start by subscribing to our mailing list for ACorp updates and we'll keep you in the loop. But, if you want to get more involved you can check out our Facebook page, you can book some time with Chris Herbert or contact us and tells us how you'd like to contribute. Lot's of options! Pick the one that works best for you. You can also dig in now by giving our Opportunity Brief a read below! Download it, print it, mark it up and share it around.