TONO's music creators and music publishers can expect better terms and more frequent payments from services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Tiktok and YouTube and more after TONO has now entered into an agreement with the licensing company ICE. – The agreement is an expression of a conscious new direction for TONO, and marks an important shift for us, says TONO CEO Karl Vestli.
/ 18/09/2025 / Willy MartinsenThe agreement between TONO and ICE was signed on Wednesday, September 17, and entails that ICE Core will license and manage TONO's rights to music streaming services and other large, international platforms where music is streamed.
Among the services ICE will handle on behalf of TONO are Spotify, Apple Music, Meta, TikTok, YouTube and many more. The company licenses services like this to, among others, British PRS, German GEMA, American BMI and Swedish STIM.
There is a comprehensive and thorough process behind the selection of ICE Core. TONO CEO, Karl Vestli, has high expectations for the work ICE Core will do for TONO in the years ahead:
– We are pleased to announce our new partnership with ICE Core. The agreement gives us a broader international network, more competitive terms, the opportunity for faster payments to members, and we also expect cost savings. We also get access to better data and better analysis, which is important both in the further development of TONO, but also for the members. Our ambition is to provide value to everyone who creates and uses music. This agreement is part of a conscious new direction for TONO, and marks an important change of pace for us, says Vestli.
TONO recently announced that the licensing hub Polaris Hub, which has been owned by TONO, Koda and Teosto, is being discontinued. because the Nordic model is no longer sufficient in an increasingly competitive and global market. ICE Core, which was established in 2016, is owned by TONO's sister societies PRS, GEMA and STIM. The company has licensed more than 100 multi-territorial services in over 245 different territories worldwide.
– With ICE as a partner, our members are in the same good company as the members of GEMA, PRS, BMI and STIM, to name a few. In an increasingly global and competitive market, this gives us greater negotiating power, efficient administration of our rights, cost savings and the same conditions as the other companies, says Vestli.
Although the agreement with ICE Core is new, TONO has been a customer of ICE for a number of years in the area of "ICE Copyright". That agreement includes maintenance of TONO's works database and connection to international works registrations and sister societies.
The transition from Polaris Hub to ICE Core starts now and will continue throughout the year. From January 1st, all licensing and administration of TONO's rights to major international music streaming services will likely be handled by ICE Core.
ICE Core is a market-leading provider of multi-territorial licensing of music rights on the internet. The company has licensed over 100 multi-territorial services across over 245 territories, providing licensing services to management companies PRS, STIM, GEMA, IMRO, BMI, Sabam, AKM, and soon Teosto and TONO, as well as independent publishers such as Concord, Songtrust and peermusic and a number of other collective management organisations, as well as publishing clients. ICE's licensing team has dedicated resources focused on data analytics and insights to ensure the delivery of market-leading commercial results and market data to ICE's clients. Read more: www.iceservices.com
TONO was founded in 1928 and is a non-profit cooperative owned and managed by composers, lyricists and music publishers. TONO manages the economic copyrights in their musical works and grants licenses for the use of protected music publicly for a fee. TONO's financial results are transferred to copyright holders in music that has been performed publicly in Norway and abroad. TONO has more than 44,000 members and also represents millions of international authors. In 2024, TONO paid out NOK 741.7 million to copyright holders at home and abroad.
Willy Martinsen, Communications Director at TONO, mobile 909 65 254, willy.martinsen@tono.no