Elin Heer is the head of the settlement department at TONO. (Photo: Kristian Dugstad)
TONO recently paid out 99 million to its members:
In December, TONO paid out NOK 99 million to TONO members. But what really happens behind the scenes – so that you get exactly the amount you deserve? – One of the key words is “automation”, says Elin Heer, head of TONO’s settlement department.
/ 13/12/2024 / Willy MartinsenIn order to receive payment from us, we must first have received music reports from, for example, streaming services, concert organizers, cinemas, etc. that your music has been played. Second, we must have received money from the place where your music has been played. That is, from, for example, Spotify, NRK, a concert organizer, a cinema or others.
TONO has employees who work on granting TONO licenses to our various customers – streaming services, concert organizers and so on, and collecting money for this. Others work on processing music reports and payments. We receive enormous amounts of reports every year. Several tens of thousands from concert organizers, many millions of lines of information from streaming services, reports from cinemas and so on. There is a lot to sort, process – and matcpassword.
“Fortunately, much of this work is automated. We don't have to look at every single line to check everything with a human eye,” says Elin Heer.
Heer is responsible for TONO's billing department. The department has 19 employees who work with music reports and billing.
The TONO music reports show what kind of titles have been played. These titles must be identified with registered works:
– We have had automatic "matching" of works, to a greater or lesser extent, since 2010. In 2019, we developed a new and efficient algorithm, so-called "advanced matching", which automatically compares the performances in the music reports we receive with titles in the international works database. The performances are then linked with the correct work, explains Heer.
If we are to do a good job for our members, we need good systems. We recently changed our supplier of advanced matching to the Irish company Spanish Point. This is the first step in a major efficiency improvement process at TONO.
“With the new solution, we are continuing a practice that is already effective. We expect this to be successful and that it will ensure that we can maintain and strengthen the already high quality of our matching,” she says.
New, good technical solutions do not eliminate the need for you, TONO members, to be careful about what information you provide when registering new songs and works.
– Firstly, it is incredibly important that new songs written by members are registered in TONO as soon as possible, and preferably before they are released on streaming services or played at concerts. Only then will they become searchable in the works database. Also remember to be careful to register the correct names of everyone who has been involved in writing the music, and please consider that the title should also be searchable. Artistically, it may be an idea for some to create music without a title or that consists of only two unusual characters. But it can create some challenges when it comes to identifying the work with regard to payments, she says.
In 2024, TONO received new settlement principles. This is due, among other things, to requirements in the relatively new collective management act. You can read more about the principles by clicking on the link below. But they say, among other things, that payments should be made in a reassuring and accurate manner, without delay, and the money should be distributed individually based on how they are registered in TONO. Rights holders should be treated equally, and settlements should be based on actual use of the music. You can see the principles by clicking here.
TONO will make gradual changes to the existing settlement model in the years leading up to 2028. More information about this will be available in 2025.