TONO's CEO, Cato Strøm, was awarded the honorary prize during the Music Publishers Award on Wednesday evening. – The winner of this year's honorary prize can be considered to be somewhat outside the criteria as this person is not a composer, songwriter or music publisher. However, the person in question scores highly on the last and most crucial criterion – that they have done a lot for Norwegian music, the jury's justification stated.
/ 28/02/2019 / Kristian DugstadTONO's CEO, Cato Strøm, was awarded the honorary prize during the Music Publishers Award on Wednesday evening. "The winner of this year's honorary prize can be considered to be somewhat outside the criteria as this person is not a composer, songwriter or music publisher. However, the person in question scores highly on the last and most crucial criterion – that they have done a lot for Norwegian music," the jury stated in its statement.
All photos: Akam1k3
Cato Strøm joined TONO as a lawyer in 1983, and has been CEO since 1989. He has led the company through the digital development of the music industry, and fought a number of important copyright battles.
– It is a great honor to receive recognition like this for doing the country's most interesting job. The award should of course be shared with all of TONO's dedicated employees, because what we do is truly a team effort, says Strøm.
The award was presented by Frida Blomgren, State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture. Strøm received the statuette to a standing ovation.
– In the daily work at TONO, a lot of it is about copyright, negotiations and the development of new technological solutions. The distance between creating music and managing rights can sometimes seem large. That is why it is important to be able to share moments like this with those for whom you carry out the assignment, namely the music creators and their publishers. It really gives the feeling of working for a common cause and for a common goal. It should be possible to make a living from creating music, he says.
"The winner of this year's honorary award can be considered to be somewhat outside the criteria as this person is not a composer, songwriter or music publisher. However, the person in question scores highly on the last and most crucial criterion – that they have done a lot for Norwegian music."
Throughout his work, the person has fought for Norwegian music and Norwegian rights holders with a zeal and commitment far beyond what the first job description required 36 years ago, and if possible even more so after his new job description 6 years later.
Despite the relatively demanding job of managing a company with some sixty employees – and on top of that, a company in rapid development in an industry that is developing at a quantum leap – the person in question has always had the strength and focus to also fight the big battles on everyone's behalf – the ones that really matter to secure the framework conditions in the future – and ensure that all of you gathered here today can continue to do what you love – namely creating music and getting paid for it.
In recent years, this year's honorary award winner, who holds board positions both in Norway and abroad, has frequently appeared in the media in his many battles to ensure sustainable legislation and adequate payment for the use of music on all platforms.
On behalf of everyone who is in a position to see the outstanding work he does for Norwegian rights holders – both externally politically and within the cooperative – and on behalf of everyone who benefits from this work without having direct insight into these processes – it is a pleasure to give this year's honorary award to TONO's director – Cato Strøm.
