Four re-elections to TONO's board, new members in the scholarship committee, changes to the statutes, and a standing ovation for Cato Strøm on his last year as CEO of TONO. Here you can read a summary from TONO's annual meeting yesterday.
/ 09/06/2022 / Willy Martinsen
TONO's 2022 annual meeting was held yesterday, June 8, as a hybrid meeting with a physical event at Popsenteret in Oslo and a few dozen participants online from home. The meeting started at 18 pm and lasted three hours.
Read the press release about the changes to the statutes here
TONO's board consists of two representatives from each of the groups Norwegian Composers' Association, NOPA, Music Publishers and the independent cooperative owners, as well as three employee representatives. Members of TONO's board are elected for two years at a time, with overlapping election periods. With four board seats up for election each year, continuity in the board's work is ensured.
TONO's 2022 annual meeting adopted the nomination committee's recommendation as presented in advance, and thus TONO's board continues with the same members as in the previous period. With two re-elections also of alternates, only Anne Judith Wik and Mathilde Groos Viddal are new to the board of TONO.
The members' representatives on TONO's board for 2022-23 are therefore as follows, with the representatives who were up for election highlighted in bold:
| Manager | Deputy representative | |
| NOPA | Tove Bøygard | Jon-Willy Rydningen (1st alternate) |
| Ole Henrik Antonsen (re-election) | Anne Judith Wik (2nd deputy) (new) | |
| NKF | Stine Sorlie | Knut Olaf Sunde (1st alternate) |
| Jørgen Karlstrøm (re-election) | Mathilde Groos Viddal (2nd alternate) (new) | |
| MF | Unni Boretti | Thomas Wettergreen (1st alternate) (re-election) |
| Kai Robøle (re-election) | Tonje Hovde (2nd alternate) | |
| Uavh. | Ine Kristine Hoem | Marie Amdam |
| Stian Westerhus (re-election) | Halvard Rundberg (re-election) |
In addition to these, there are also three employee representatives on the board, who are elected every two years by TONO's employees according to its own rules. See an overview of the entire TONO board here..
Chairman Jørgen Karlstrøm (NKF) and Deputy Chairman of the Board Kai Robøle (MF) were recommended by the nomination committee to continue in their roles for another year, and this was also approved.
TONO's scholarship committee consists of two members from the group associations NOPA and the Norwegian Composers' Association, one member from Musikkforleggerne and two independent members from TONO. The members of the committee are elected for two years at a time with overlapping terms.
Here too, the nomination committee's recommendation was accepted. TONO's scholarship committee for 2022-23 is therefore made up of the following representatives, with the positions that were up for election highlighted in bold:
| Manager | Var | |
| NOPA | Tore Thomassen | Dagfinn Nordbø |
| Tove Kragset (re-election) | Claudia Scott (new) | |
| NKF | Martin Odegaard | Julian Skar |
| Hilde Marie Holsen (new) | Agnes Ida Pettersen (new) | |
| MF | Anthony Smith (new) | Marion Skogseth Bjørsvik (new) |
| Uavh. | Ole Børud (re-election) | Edvard Valberg (new) |
| Kaja Gunnufsen | Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen (new) (1 year) |
There was no election of members to TONO's control committee and election committee this year, as these are elected for two years, and the current committees were elected at TONO's annual meeting in 2021.
TONO's annual report and annual accounts for 2021 for the company and the TONO group, including the audit report and the control committee's report, were adopted, and fees for the auditor and representatives of TONO were also set. The latter is regulated at the same level as the regulation of the salaries of employees in TONO's administration, but negotiations in this area were not clear before the annual meeting.
TONO sold its old premises at Tøyenbekken 21 in Oslo in 2021. The ownership was organized in the real estate company Harmoni AS, which was established in 1988, and a proposal was made by the board to the annual meeting that the profits should be managed for the best interests of the rights holders, both authors and music publishers, and earmarked for cultural purposes in the broadest sense in line with Harmoni's mission statement and for the establishment of a music room in connection with TONO's premises for free use by members.
The annual meeting resolved to authorize the board to make further decisions in line with this regarding how the funds should be managed. In addition, the board was asked, after an additional vote, to come back with details regarding the earmarking of funds from Harmoni AS. This will therefore be explained in more detail at the annual meeting in 2023.
In line with Section 12 of the Collective Management Act, the annual meeting also considered TONO's general principles for the distribution of remuneration to rights holders (the "distribution plan"), TONO's investment strategy and general principles for deductions from rights income, including cultural funds. The annual meeting voted in line with the recommendations presented by the board.
Changes were also adopted in TONO's statutes in line with the introduction of the Collective Management Act, which was introduced on July 1, 2021. These will be updated on tono.no shortly.
Also read this article: Press release about changes to the articles of association
TONO's 2022 annual meeting also marked Cato Strøm's last annual meeting as CEO of TONO after 34 years in the role. As previously announced on TONO's website, he will retire later this year. Chairman Jørgen Karlstrøm thanked Strøm for his fantastic efforts over many years. Strøm also gave a speech at the annual meeting in which he thanked for 39 interesting and good years in service to the licensees, which ended with a standing ovation from the annual meeting.
