Because Third Nature is collectively owned by its artists and contributors with no outside investor ownership, we’ve had to innovate different ways of rewarding sweat equity than venture-funded startups.
We asekd ourselves: How do we compensate our contributors for their time, risk, and commitment? How do we track, recognise, and reward work at Third Nature so that it is fair and not just based on volunteering How can we think of labour as an investment?
This led to the design of our Contributor Time Bank, which allows Contributor-Members to self-report how many unpaid hours they spent contributing to Third Nature. These hours are logged into the Third Nature Time Bank, which serves as a ledger for labour investment into the label. Therefore, although many contributors may have different levels of commitment and availability, we can all record our contributions on equal standing.
Each hour that is logged into the time bank is worth a set 'amount'. It’s designed to be highly egalitarian and not based on models of how the market values people based on their backgrounds and credentials. This means that an hour contributed by a mixer/producer is worth the same as an hour contributed by an intern.
Tasks are pre-agreed upon within meetings to ensure contributors are aware of potential repayment options and methods.
The value of this labour is paid back over time with a revenue share or with in kind payments from other contributors. A percentage of the co-op’s revenue will go towards paying back contributors for their investment of time, which means that initially labour may be contributed as a debt investment which could be paid back as a revenue share. We’ll continue to reflect on and iterate this system, but we wanted to share this to show how we’ve been thinking about alternative labour incentive structures.
If you’d like to join us as a Contributor-Member, get in touch!