This piece marks my first release on metalabel. It represents an opportunity to create the foundation for a sustainable career as a poet. The entire thing was created by me.

Before I fully understood metalabel, I had heard of it though researching the creative industries for a project I'm developing, I was going to release it as digital product on, www.buymeacoffee.com, though after a community zoom call, with Yancey Strickler for Artists Corporations, I decided to look further into it. Once I figured out what it was excitement over came me.

I believe digital artifacts can transform the poetry industry and create a viable avenue for a sustainable poetry career. A poet with a canva subscription can make digital artifacts at scale and the only other overhead being time, a pen, paper and a device to create on.

With only a few hundred consistent collectors buying a piece regularly for a low cost can create a working foundation for a poet to invest into their career and grow.

This piece represents the fire and passion I feel for creating a world where creatives thrive. I've been cultivating my career as a poet for 15 years. It's basically always been a financial nightmare as I worked whatever gig didn't dominate my time away from building a creative career. In 2013 I got into an MFA poetry program but dropped out a couple months in. Partly because a professor said there was no future where a poet could have a sustainable career though original creative work. Ethically she couldn't have told us anything much different but I knew that the digital era represented a different possibility. Over the years since I've been doing community organizing around the arts and working independent music festivals.

I've been on all the social media platforms but it was the wrong fight for where most creatives are at. I think social media should be complimentary to a small established fan base that supports the work. The individual artist having to go out on the open ocean in a dingy, among freighters and yachts, has proven difficult to get the footing necessary to support themselves. For me that's what metalabel represents. It's a place where creative talent can develop authentically on it's own terms with an audience that is interested in discovering and supporting creative work. From there creatives can build a working career.

It's time for creatives to be masters of their future.

The price point is flexible to accommodate different levels of support. It all goes to directly supporting independent art. This piece is designed so that when it sells out it provides a basic level of support that significantly impacts my ability to do this work full time. 3% of sales will go to Re^Human a First Nations led regenerative culture organization, more info can be found here https://www.rehuman.earth/

Creative rEvolution or bust!