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Would you be interested in an Artist Cooperative?
6 years ago
So my recent depression spell has really gotten me thinking:
It would be so much easier if I was part of a group of artists supporting each other. I've also had ideas to do a couple cooperatives for my day job.
First, a definition:
I want to get some trusted and cool people together and we do a small cooperative. I got the idea while considering starting a subscription service for myself. However, I really didn't see the value in just doing one for myself. Especially because I would want any sort of subscription service that I do to be of high value to its subscribers, with a lot of great content. That is easier achieved with several artists then just me chaining myself to my desk. I'm also pretty business savvy, making my own business, so I feel like this skill would be valuable to artists wanting to grow their business.
I'd like to talk to some artists to get to know what things they would want from a cooperative. Here are some things I can think of right away--
--Sharing premium services for Ko-Fi, Picarto, Youtube and others: Ko-fi and Picarto have subscription services to help you recoup the cost for paying for their service. They also advertise and promote premium accounts more. Being part of a cooperative gets us access to these services and we share the burden of paying them among ourselves.
--Sharing a pool of trusted commissioners: There are a lot of risks people don't talk about when commissioning. One of them is the amount of time it takes to gain a relationship with people TO commission. Another is unscrupulous people who dispute their payments to artist to rob them of their money after the art is complete. Its devastating and Paypal favors the commissioner over the artist. Sharing a pool of people who already support you with their dollars gets around that.
--Access to paying subscribers with less content burden: Being a content creator is extremely demanding. Having a team of people to help you makes it easier. Its a lot more fun.
--Ownership and Comradery: Unlike other subscription services, you don't gain ownership of things. In a cooperative, ownership is divided among the workers. The dollars we put in, we are investing in ourselves, fellow cooperatives. We get a say in how the funds are spent, and the cooperative will even help with money making activities like going to cons. We can still continue to work independently on our art without having to answer to any one. All is required is to subscribe to pay our part into the cooperative and make content.
--Opportunity to get better and guidance: Members of the cooperative can help each other and give each other constructive criticism, something that doesn't always happen on FA. I personally can offer guidance on freelancing, since I've been doing that for about 5 or 6 years now. I also help small businesses as my day job, so I'd be happy to help.
It's been my dream to have a farming commune/cooperative for a very long time~. I've been talking about it with my friends for years. I'm excited about this because this is a step in that direction.
Comment with your thoughts below.
It would be so much easier if I was part of a group of artists supporting each other. I've also had ideas to do a couple cooperatives for my day job.
First, a definition:
A cooperative is an organization thats owned by it's workers. You see this for service industries that specifically serve a community, such as nursing and grocery stores.
I want to get some trusted and cool people together and we do a small cooperative. I got the idea while considering starting a subscription service for myself. However, I really didn't see the value in just doing one for myself. Especially because I would want any sort of subscription service that I do to be of high value to its subscribers, with a lot of great content. That is easier achieved with several artists then just me chaining myself to my desk. I'm also pretty business savvy, making my own business, so I feel like this skill would be valuable to artists wanting to grow their business.
I'd like to talk to some artists to get to know what things they would want from a cooperative. Here are some things I can think of right away--
The Benefits:
--Sharing premium services for Ko-Fi, Picarto, Youtube and others: Ko-fi and Picarto have subscription services to help you recoup the cost for paying for their service. They also advertise and promote premium accounts more. Being part of a cooperative gets us access to these services and we share the burden of paying them among ourselves.
--Sharing a pool of trusted commissioners: There are a lot of risks people don't talk about when commissioning. One of them is the amount of time it takes to gain a relationship with people TO commission. Another is unscrupulous people who dispute their payments to artist to rob them of their money after the art is complete. Its devastating and Paypal favors the commissioner over the artist. Sharing a pool of people who already support you with their dollars gets around that.
--Access to paying subscribers with less content burden: Being a content creator is extremely demanding. Having a team of people to help you makes it easier. Its a lot more fun.
--Ownership and Comradery: Unlike other subscription services, you don't gain ownership of things. In a cooperative, ownership is divided among the workers. The dollars we put in, we are investing in ourselves, fellow cooperatives. We get a say in how the funds are spent, and the cooperative will even help with money making activities like going to cons. We can still continue to work independently on our art without having to answer to any one. All is required is to subscribe to pay our part into the cooperative and make content.
--Opportunity to get better and guidance: Members of the cooperative can help each other and give each other constructive criticism, something that doesn't always happen on FA. I personally can offer guidance on freelancing, since I've been doing that for about 5 or 6 years now. I also help small businesses as my day job, so I'd be happy to help.
It's been my dream to have a farming commune/cooperative for a very long time~. I've been talking about it with my friends for years. I'm excited about this because this is a step in that direction.
Comment with your thoughts below.
fireside.cooperative
I'm not much more then a hobbyist, and I haven't draw regularly in like a year. This idea interests me but idk how much help I'd be.
Also, what is the ideal group size?
First, the group size-
As a cooperative, we're stronger with numbers~. Though, it's a more stable situation when there's more contributing community members then there are owning artists. I'm thinking a 1:7 ratio (7 community members to every owner artist). Right now, we have 3.
Second, as far as competency, we are more interested in community oriented people who want to do better together. That means folks who don't mind putting in their fair share of promotion, and also willingness to learn. One of the things I'm giving to the cooperative is mentorship, but only if they're interested in that. The main reason I'm doing it, since I only want to mentor people who want to learn and make something of it.
Third, a question for you. c:
What are you interested in in particular? And why?
The idea of working in a team is interesting because Having people relying on me would push me to do more. Likewise, in situations where I'm having trouble I could always ask for help.
I think it's novel when you are motivated by serving others. I'm one of those people. I just want to create a situation where I make a place for others like that.