Joker Risteigen won the mini concert with Beharie

In May and June, TONO gave Norwegians the opportunity to give away a mini-concert as a surprise gift to a store, hairdresser, shopping mall, cafe or other business that they thought deserved it. The response was overwhelming – and in the end it was between two strong candidates, with Joker Risteigen drawing the longest straw.

It is clear that this was engaging. In the end, we had 192 good candidates to choose from. The choice fell on Joker Risteigen in Kongsberg. We liked both the justification from the person who nominated the store, and not least because it was a grocery store. Playing on an unconventional stage and being able to surprise grocery customers with live music was something we thought was fun, says Willy Martinsen, Communications Director at TONO.

The store was nominated by a customer. The justification states that it is a rare convenience store with people who are passionate about their job. They are the "hub" in the local community, and among other things, deliver food to the elderly in the district. This is a great group and the concert will be a good start to two festival weeks in the city.

– We think it's nice to be able to "donate" a free concert with one of Norway's best artists to a store that deserves it. We don't know if this is Norway's first store concert, but it's certainly not common! We think the store customers at Kongsberg will get an experience they will never forget, says Martinsen.

Beharie has won the Spellemann award, been compared to Frank Ocean and the high dice rolls have been hailed. With his vulnerable, but at the same time insistent indie/soul expression, Beharie has already managed to become an artist with whom many have developed a close relationship. This summer he will be visiting festivals around the country.

– Beharie is a real mood-maker that we look forward to hearing in the store. We believe he will help enhance the customer experience that day, says Martinsen.

– Not least, we hope that this can contribute to Norwegian grocery stores becoming more aware of the power of using music. We at TONO, which is the Norwegian collaboration of Norwegian songwriters, composers, lyricists and music publishers, find it a bit sad that Norwegian grocery stores do not use pleasant background music, unlike in many other countries in the world.

The store concert competition is part of TONO's background music magazine "Music as an amplifier" concept. At musikkenforsterker.no you will find stories about why it can be smart to use TONO music as background music, why a TONO license is necessary for concerts and accommodation or catering establishments, and why it is important to report to TONO what is played "live". Visit musicamplifier.no.