TONO's CEO Cato Strøm summarizes 2021.
/ 22/12/2021 / Willy Martinsen
A year ago, we at TONO would not have believed that we would also be entering the Christmas holidays from home in 2021. With the exception of a few autumn months, the music industry has been hit hard by infection control restrictions for almost two years. In December, we read about the brain drain in the industry, companies closing down and Christmas tours being canceled.
Big and small battles
There have been large and small battles over copyright and the collective management area in 2021. There has been hectic activity in TONO's board and in the other governing committees and committees of TONO throughout the year. It is a great strength for an organization like TONO to have composers, lyricists and music publishers in such central positions.
In TONO's administration, employees are on the front line every day. Negotiations and licensing are carried out. Reports are processed and money is settled. We settled a total of NOK 552,4 million to authors at home and abroad in the year's four ordinary settlements, and we also awarded NOK 16,2 million in TONO scholarships and Young Talent scholarships to 782 TONO members.
KUD compensation
We paid out compensation from the Ministry of Culture in September og December. We received this money after TONO's administration and board and the group associations NOPA, the Norwegian Composers' Association and Music Publishers spent a lot of time documenting the losses and communicating this to politicians and civil servants. We are currently working on the loss calculations for 2021 and will follow up with the cultural authorities with this in mind.
Act on collective management
In 2020, the EU Directive on collective management was finally implemented into Norwegian lawThe directive strengthens and ensures the quality of asset management companies across Europe. TONO has been largely adapted to this for many years, but is currently working on all the details of how this affects us.
Digital reporting solution
In May, we invited congregations to be pilot users. of TONO's new digital reporting solution. Later, some concert organizers have joined as users, and the solution has been well received. We will invite more users in 2022.
TONO-VAT
Both abroad and at home, several creators are establishing themselves as limited liability companies subject to VAT. TONO has considered its activities to be VAT-exempt, but ambiguities in the regulations have posed a risk for members and us as a company. Together with Gramo, Norwaco and IFPI, TONO has had dialogue with the Tax Directorate for a long time. In August we were asked to change our practice. The regulations are not adapted to collective management, so the management organizations therefore proposed adapted regulations, and we registered TONO in the VAT register like the other management organizations. We are still in dialogue with the Tax Directorate, but in our opinion this is the only solution. We will start collecting VAT next year according to plan. I have previously written more about the background to the TONO VAT in this text.
NOTE! After this comment was written, the Norwegian Tax Administration has announced that it is working on a legislative change in this area, and the collection of VAT has therefore been postponed until further notice. Read the announcement about this here.
TONO moves to new office premises at Møllergata 4
TONO members who have previously visited TONO at Tøyenbekken 21 must now learn a new address. From January, TONO's office address will be Møllergata 4. There we will have new, modern premises that will help TONO go even better equipped into the future, with open solutions that strengthen interaction between employees and will further increase the quality of our work.
Finally, I would like to thank TONO's members for their trust. We take their music very seriously. We will continue to do so in 2022.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas – and a Happy New Year.
Sincerely,
Cato Strom
CEO of TONO