Yancey Strickler
Co-founder and former CEO of Kickstarter, writer and musician
Yancey Strickler (Co-founder and former CEO of Kickstarter, writer and musician) has appeared as a guest on 1 episode in TMT. Topics they speak about most include Artificial intelligence, Creator economy, Record deals and music industry economics.
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
Artificial intelligence
Strickler described many AI creative demonstrations as art for non-artists that removes the enjoyable part of making things.
“A lot of the AI creative demonstrations I see is like art for non-artists to me. It's like, why would I do that? Like, that's the fun part”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 44:10
Strickler argued that AI marks the end of a classical era of culture production made largely by human hands.
“I feel like there is a classical era of culture production that has closed. And I think probably that dividing line is AI”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 39:54
Strickler predicted that in an AI-driven world, personality and relationships with audiences will distinguish standout creative work.
“I think it's personality and its relationship with audience that's going to distinguish what stands out from what doesn't”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 38:39
Creator economy
Strickler said the bigger problem than commodification is that creators are not capturing the value of their work and are being exploited.
“I believe that people aren't capturing the value of what they do. And actually our work is being exploited in a way that doesn't actually reflect the value we create”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 46:28
Strickler said there are more creators and more demand for content than ever but fewer support systems.
“right now we find ourselves more people than ever creating, more demand for content than ever, yet less support systems than ever”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 7:02
Record deals and music industry economics
Strickler proposed that records made by A Corp bands would be joint ventures co-owned by the band and label.
“I think their record would be like a joint venture co-owned by the band and the label at which they are both putting in some money or labor”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 27:00
Strickler argued that labels and studios treat artists as service providers who create assets for larger entities to capitalize on.
“artists are essentially service providers who create assets that these larger entities acquire and capitalize on”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 24:43
Artist corporation (A Corp)
Strickler said that A Corps could issue shares to labels or commercial entities instead of selling their intellectual property rights.
“rather than just selling the rights to their intellectual property, which has been customary until now, as an artist corporation, they can issue shares”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 23:58
Strickler explained that an A Corp must produce creative output and be at least 51% owned and controlled by artists.
“The project must be at least 51% owned and controlled by artists and creators, not outside investors”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 22:34
History of the concept of creativity
Strickler argued that today's creative boom is not a momentary trend but the payoff of investments made about 70 years ago.
“What I see is not some momentary blip, but I see the payoffs of investments that were made 70 years ago”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 5:28
Strickler said the modern concept of creativity emerged partly from post-WWII Department of Defense research aimed at countering conformity amid Cold War rivalry.
“Post-World War II, people were worried about American society becoming too homogenous. And the U.S. was worried about facing off against the Soviet Union”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 2:09
360 deals
Strickler criticized 360 deals offered to successful TikTokers as overly restrictive because they claim rights to everything a creator makes.
“These are basically deals that sign all rights of anything you might make. And so they are overly restrictive”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 31:51
Creator burnout
Strickler argued that creators burn out because they must act as artist, marketer, community manager, and order fulfiller while running small businesses around hobbies.
“You're the artist. You're the marketer. You're the community manager. You're the order fulfiller. You're all of these things because we're ultimately running these small businesses around our hobbies”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 20:09
Kickstarter
Strickler estimated that about $9 billion has changed hands through Kickstarter.
“At this point, I think it's $9 billion or something like that that's changed hands through the platform”
TED Radio Hour: The price of creativity (Aug 14, 2026) · Listen from 11:04
Appearances
The price of creativityTED Radio Hour · Aug 14, 2026 · 50 min
Manoush Zomorodi talks with Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler about the history of creativity, the creator economy, and his proposed artist corporation (A Corp).
Often appears with
- Manoush Zomorodi · 1 shared episode
- Ken Robinson · 1 shared episode