Björn Ulvaeus new CISAC president

Swedish composer Björn Ulvaeus, known from ABBA and the musicals Mamma Mia and Chess, has today been elected as the new president of CISAC, the global umbrella organization for artists' rights societies. Ulvaeus takes over one of the world's most important and prestigious artistic positions from Jean-Michel Jarre.

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 / 29/05/2020 / Kristian Dugstad

In Norway, the organizations TONO and BONO are members of CISAC. TONO works for composers, lyricists and their music publishers. BONO works for visual artists such as painters and photographers. TONO CEO, Cato Strøm, is confident that the new president will do a good job:

– Jean-Michel Jarre has made a formidable effort during his time as CISAC president, but I have confidence that Bjørn Ulvaeus will solve the task in an equally good way. It is important for rights organizations to have clear leaders and standard-bearers, preferably people who have distinguished themselves as artists and creators themselves. This opens doors and gives them leverage in meetings with politicians and decision-makers, for example in the EU and Washington, says Strøm. Robin Gibb has also previously held the position of president of CISAC.

CISAC works on a wide range of fronts to secure the rights and livelihoods of artists. This includes, in particular, work to strengthen and protect copyright, artists' general terms and conditions and collective management models.

Defending artists' livelihoods

With more than 150 hit songs under his belt, Björn Ulvaeus, along with Benny Andersson, is one of the most successful songwriting duos in history. He is looking forward to getting down to business in his new role.

“I have been fortunate enough to be able to make a good living from my work as a songwriter and artist. As CISAC President, I now look forward to working for the next generation of creators,” the newly elected president said in a press release from CISAC.

Ulvaeus brings to the presidency a good understanding of the cultural industry and the international copyright management that is the basis of life for artists.

– CISAC has a unique international authority and I believe passionately in its goal of securing better, fairer conditions for creators, he says.

About CISAC:

CISAC is the international association of copyright societies for creators and composers. With 232 member societies in 120 countries, CISAC represents over four million authors from all continents and artistic fields, including music, audiovisual, drama, literature and the visual arts. CISAC was founded in 1925 and is a non-governmental, non-profit organization headquartered in Paris.

About TONO:

TONO is a non-profit cooperative, founded in 1928, owned and managed by its members: composers, songwriters, lyricists and music publishers. TONO manages performance rights for musical works in Norway and collects remuneration for their public performance. TONO currently represents more than 34,000 Norwegian composers, lyricists and music publishers. Through reciprocal representation agreements with similar companies in other countries, TONO manages the rights of more than 3 million authors in Norwegian territory. As a non-profit enterprise, TONO's results are transferred to the rights holders in performed works. TONO thus facilitates the use of music in society, while at the same time providing authors with a basis for constantly creating new musical works. For more information, visit www.tono.no.

For more information:
Cato Strøm, CEO of TONO, cato.strom@tono.no, mobile 922 16 319Willy Martinsen, Head of Communications at TONO, willy.martinsen@tono.no, mobile 909 65 254