Business status and future development
TONO is a cooperative that manages performance and sound fixation rights to music. In addition to individual management contracts with approximately 34,000 rights holders, TONO has reciprocal representation agreements with 74 foreign sister societies. In this way, TONO manages the world repertoire of copyrighted music in the Norwegian
territory. TONO has transferred the management of its rights holders' sound recording rights to NCB (Nordic Copyright Bureau) in Copenhagen, which is owned by the Nordic management companies KODA (Denmark), STIM (Sweden), STEF (Iceland), Teosto (Finland) and TONO.
TONO is operated from Oslo with the visiting address Tøyenbekken 21, 0134 Oslo.
In 2019, 9 board meetings and 4 board committee meetings were held.
Management contracts
As of 31.12.19, TONO had management contracts with 34,233 rights holders. In 2019, 1,650 new rights holders were added, of which 12 were music publishers.
For comparison, the number as of 31.12.18 was 32,590 rights holders. In 2018, 1,642 new rights holders were added, of which 11 were music publishers.
There are 20% female members and 80% male members. Publisher members make up 1%.
Shareholders
As of 31.12.2019, there were 1,752 registered members in TONO.
As of December 31.12.2018, 1, there were 620 registered members in TONO.
98,7% of the members are authors, of which 15,8% are women. 1,3% of the members are music publishers.
Economic circumstances
In 2019, TONO had a gross turnover of kr 771,029,047. This is an increase of 9,01% compared to 2018.
The result for distribution after deduction of 2% to the Norwegian Composers' Fund, losses and administrative costs was kr 674,391,863, an increase of 9,88% compared to 2018. The cost percentage for the entire business was 10,50%.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Accounting Act of 1998, and satisfy the requirements of applicable laws, regulations and generally accepted accounting principles. The Accounting Act of 1998 resulted in significant changes in 1999 for the recognition of pension costs. As a result, TONO records a negative equity. Originally, this effect of liabilities was minus kr 11,026,446. As of December 31, 2019, the total effect of liabilities recorded against equity is kr 11,387,128. The previous year this obligation was kr 11 533 193
As TONO's distributable profit each year constitutes between 85-90 percent of turnover, and as the distributable profit is what is left at any time after all costs have been deducted, the board of directors believes that TONO's financial result for 2019 is good, and that the company's financial position is strong. Continuing operations are therefore risk-free. There are good conditions for TONO's business to achieve a good result in 2020.
TONO has a large and liquid management portfolio at all times. The goal is to achieve the highest possible return with the lowest possible risk. TONO's conservative investment strategy ensures stable returns. Each investment should be among the lowest risk within its asset class. Risk is further reduced through a broadly structured portfolio, and TONO uses several financial players to reduce management risk.
TONO manages the ownership of the business's premises in the Galleriet condominium through the wholly owned subsidiary Harmoni AS.
Market development
We see that the largest market areas are showing very good development, with concerts, film streaming/VOD and TV distribution as the areas that are growing the most. There has been a tendency for competition for customers within the background music segment as suppliers of license-free music have increased somewhat.
In the fall of 2018, a year-long dispute between RiksTV and TONO was settled in the Supreme Court. After TONO had won in both the District Court and the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous verdict in which TONO was fully upheld. In accordance with the verdict, TONO has filed a significant claim for damages against RiksTV and on 23 December 2019, the parties settled the damages case for MNOK 100,5.
No circumstances have arisen in 2019 that significantly affect TONO's operations.
COVID-19 situation – events that occurred in 2020 prior to the submission of the board's report that are significant to
TONO's position
The serious situation that the Coronavirus has created worldwide will affect TONO's operations in 2020. As of March 24, 2020, it is not possible to say anything for sure about the consequences.
No particular changes are expected in TONO's rights portfolio this year.
After TONO has implemented various measures to limit the spread of the virus, we have stable access to employee resources from home offices, and tasks are carried out in an almost ordinary manner. We will still face a significant drop in revenue in 2020, and this loss of revenue will become greater the longer the Corona situation lasts.
NCB
NCB is an independent legal entity and is governed by a board elected by KODA, TEOSTO, STIM, STEF and TONO. NCB's operational management is carried out by KODA. This has proven to be an effective solution for the NCB organization and its owners.
NCB's operations showed a profit of DKK 4,667,000 in 2019.
This has been transferred to equity, which as of 31.12.2019 amounts to DKK 42,852,000. Sales of phonograms are steadily declining, and NCB has adapted to the market situation, with significantly reduced turnover.
TONO's staff
At the end of 2019, TONO had 60 permanent employees, of which 3 were part-time. In 2018, the number of permanent employees was 65, of which 6 employees worked part-time.
TONO has a goal of achieving full equality between women and men. This means that there should be no discrimination based on gender in matters such as salary, advancement and recruitment. There are 33 women and 27 men in TONO's workforce. 2 men and 1 woman are employed part-time. The average age for all is 45,8 years (45,5 years for women and 47,8 years for men).
The average gross monthly salary for all female employees at the end of 2019, including managers, is kr 52.274. The average gross monthly salary for male employees, including managers, is kr 65.049. The higher average salary for men is due to the fact that the proportion of men in management positions is higher than that of women.
Internal control, HSE (health, environment and safety)
Through the working environment committee (AMU) for the staff representatives and management, HSE work is systematized. Regular meetings are held in the AMU. Sick leave work must be discussed in at least two meetings annually.
For many years, TONO has had an IA agreement (Including Working Life), a cooperation agreement between the individual company and NAV. The main goal of the agreement was to provide space for everyone who can and wants to work, fully or partially. As of 2019, the IA agreement has been applied to the entire working world, and is therefore no longer entered into separately with individual businesses.
In 2019, sick leave was 4,44%, compared to 5,77% the previous year. Sick leave is monitored in accordance with the IA agreement and the provisions of the Working Environment Act.
TONO does not conduct business that could pollute the external environment.
Employers' duty to promote equality and prevent discrimination
Over time, TONO has aimed to achieve an approximately equal distribution of women and men in the workforce. As of 31.12.2019, 55% of employees were female and 45% were male. Women and men in comparable positions are paid equally.
3 employees are employed in part-time positions at their own request, partly due to care needs at home and partly due to reduced functional capacity.
Welfare and care leave is distributed equally between genders, but there is a higher proportion of sick leave among women than among men.
TONO pays attention to the area of gender equality, and statistics show that the requirements of the Gender Equality Act have been met.
TONO's statutes stipulate that both genders must be represented by at least 40% on TONO's board.
TONO's 60 employees are ethnically diverse. We have employees from all Scandinavian countries, the rest of Europe, as well as Africa, Asia and the USA.
We therefore believe that TONO promotes equality in accordance with the purpose of the law.
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Oslo, March 24, 2020
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Ingrid Kindem (chairman), Jørgen Karlstrøm (vice-chairman), Tove Bøygard, Stian Westerhus, Stine Sørlie, Ine Kristine Hoem, Kai Robøle, Unni Boretti, Jonas Risting (employee representative), Ida Otterstad (employee representative), Håvard Offer-Ohlsen (employee representative), Cato Strøm (CEO)
