Norwegian composers and songwriters fear the economic consequences of the corona. This is shown by a new survey conducted by Opinion, on behalf of TONO: – 7 out of 10 TONO members are concerned about the possibility of making a living from music in the future, and among those who are both artists and creators, 40 percent are considering finding other work, says TONO's communications manager, Willy Martinsen.
/ 19/10/2020 / Kristian DugstadComposers, songwriters and lyricists are very concerned about how the coronavirus pandemic will affect their livelihoods in the future, according to a new survey conducted by Opinion on behalf of TONO.
The survey was conducted among a representative sample of TONO members with a settlement from TONO of more than 40,000 kroner in 2019. The survey was based on this sample because it can be assumed that these are TONO members who have TONO income as a very important source of income in their musical work.
Of those surveyed, three-quarters are both authors and artists, while one-quarter are authors only. All respondents have TONO remuneration as an important part of their income.
See the full survey here..
The way the remuneration scheme works, the financial losses will only become visible in the TONO payment in the fall of 2021.
– Every year, TONO pays out money to authors and music publishers from concert performances that took place the previous year. Therefore, it is only in 2021, and especially in the autumn settlement in 2021 where we settle the lion's share of concert revenues, that those who write music and lyrics will notice the greatest loss, says Willy Martinsen, Head of Communications at TONO.
8 out of 10 respondents state that they are quite or very worried for reduced concert payments from TONO next autumn. At the same time, over two-thirds state that they have already been quite or very large extent financially affected by the pandemic and infection control measures. If we look only at the creators who are also artists, the same figure is 80 percent.
The survey clearly shows that those who write music are fearful for the future. A full 90 percent believe they will be significantly affected financially in the short to medium term.
7 out of 10 respondents are quite or very worried for their own opportunities to make a living from music in the coming years. Among those who are only creators (not artists), 24 percent say they are considering finding work other than creating music. Among those who are artists in addition to being creators, a full 37 percent say the same.
While half of respondents say they have received support from NAV, a large proportion have not received financial support. A quarter have applied but not received support. Among those who are only creators, not artists, the same figure is 31 percent.
About TONO:
TONO was founded in 1928 and is a non-profit cooperative owned and managed by authors (composers and lyricists) and music publishers, and on their behalf manages the economic copyrights in the music they have created. TONO grants permission for the use of protected music, for example on radio, TV, the internet, concerts and cinemas for a fee, and transfers its financial results each year to the rights holders in music that has been played publicly. TONO has 35,000 members, but also works for approximately three million authors and music publishers from around the world. TONO's social role is twofold, on the one hand collecting and simplifying the licensing of protected music and on the other hand providing music creators with an economic basis for creating new musical works. In 2019, TONO had a turnover of kr 771 millions.
For more information:
Willy Martinsen, communications manager at TONO, willy.martinsen (a) tono.no, mob. 909 65 254.
Cato Strøm, CEO of TONO, cato.strom (a) tono.no, mob. 922 16 319