Doing it anyway — Anonymous Creative Futures 2026

When we pored through the more than 300 responses to our request for thoughts on the state of the creative universe for this year's Anonymous Creative Futures survey, several clear themes stood out: AI. Dark forests. Challenging economics. A return to community and IRL.

But amidst all of this, there was another thread that kept catching our eye: the idea of "doing it anyway."

Yes, the state of the world feels insurmountable. Yes, it feels increasingly impossible to make the work you want and survive. Yet it's our choice to keep doing it anyway.

Our Anonymous Creative Futures 2026 report, a collaboration between Metalabel and the Artist Corporations Foundation, showcases the voices of more than 300 artists and creators from across the world and a wide range of creative practices. We asked for their thoughts and promised them anonymity. This report, entirely in their words, is the result.

We're releasing their anonymous take on the state of the creative universe three ways:

• As a web experience you can explore on the A-Corp site
• As a PDF report that you can collect and download from Metalabel
• Or you can join the discussion in the A-Corp DFOS, launching today

One anonymous voice captured it perfectly:

"We are in the storm before sunrise,” they wrote. “Eventually, being a creative person will be the only way to live, but right now its value is hard to prove."

That’s the case now, but things are changing. Yes things are hard. But we're doing it anyway.