Wolfgang Mozart joined the Colloredo’s court in 1772 as a concertmaster but was so miserable because his creative inclinations did not go hand in hand with the traditional ask of the Archbishop so he parted ways and decided to be autonomous for his creativity to thrive, and thrive he did. But he was poor for most parts of his life because he could not bridge with the audience that loved him easily. 

Prince wanted to breakaway from his contract with his longtime label, Warner Bros so he renamed himself to an unpronounced name.  Chance the Rapper never signed a record label when he got famous. 

It's not a question on whether value for value and self autonomy in the creator economy works - artists have wanted this for centuries. The entire Punk era proved the workability of the system. 

It's about reaching out to passionate artists who want to express themselves in their own way - and they have a certain genre of audience that they can attract. These are people who believe in self expression to the core and do not want to be tied down to what mainstream labels demand of them. And these are the people who will create a cultural revolution in how the creator economy thrives. 

Eventually mainstream influencers who are naysayers now will join in and rock the boat. It’s just how it is