The first TONO payment of the year
25,000 TONO members are receiving money today in the first TONO payment of the year. We are sending NOK 53,4 million to music creators abroad, but most of it goes to TONO members, who are receiving NOK 54,7 million.
/ 19/03/2025 / Kristian DugstadTONO operates a collective management of copyrights to music. Such collective management creates great value – both for those who stock music, i.e. songwriters, composers, lyricists and music publishers, and for all those businesses that bruker music.
Through TONO, music creators stand together – and gain a combined power that allows them to receive fair compensation when their music is used. Those who use music get easy access to TONO's entire world repertoire – in one and the same license. It's simple, it creates value.
– TONO members' music is in high demand, whether it concerns broadcasters, streaming services, concert organizers or other music users. Today is one of the most important days of the year in TONO, as today we pay out money to members for the use of their music. The March payment is the first of this year's four ordinary quarterly settlements, says Karl Vestli.
A total of 24,727 TONO members will receive payments in March. A total of NOK 54,7 million from the payments will go to TONO members, who are mainly Norwegian music creators and music publishers.
The largest revenue areas are music streaming services and payments from our sister societies for the use of Norwegian music abroad. Radio is the second largest area, followed by concerts.
Among those receiving payments this time, there are 4,697 women, 19,569 men and 223 for whom we do not have information about gender in our registers. This corresponds to a percentage distribution of approximately 80 percent men and 20 percent women.
The rest of the total of 110 million kroner paid out is distributed with 53,4 million kroner to rights holders in other countries and 1,8 million kroner reserved for unidentified rights holders, unregistered musical works and disputed rights.
The settlement amounts for concerts, radio, cinema and video on demand have clearly increased compared to last year. Music streaming, TV, background music, abroad and premiere performances are lower. In particular, the settlement amount for music streaming is lower compared to March last year.
This is because the music streaming payout in March 2024 included a significant extraordinary payout stemming from a lump sum payment to TONO.
Music is a central part of value creation for streaming services, TV and radio channels, concert organizers, cinemas, hotels, cafes and other businesses. Through the TONO license, these players gain legal access to a wide range of music from both Norwegian and international rights holders.
TONO works continuously with licensing, negotiations, obtaining music reports and distributing remuneration. The goal is to ensure that those who create the music receive their rightful share of the value they help create. TONO makes four main payments a year.
About TONO:
TONO was founded in 1928 and is a non-profit cooperative owned and managed by composers, lyricists and music publishers. TONO manages the economic copyrights in their musical works, and grants licenses for the use of protected music in public for a fee. TONO's financial results are transferred to rights holders in music that has been performed publicly in Norway and abroad. TONO has more than 43,000 members, and in addition represents millions of rights holders from the rest of the world. TONO provides music creators with an economic basis to create new music, and collects and simplifies the licensing of protected music to music users.
Media contact:
Willy Martinsen, Communications Director, willy.martinsen (a) tono.no, mob. 909 65 254