– As the incentive scheme is set up, the TONO remuneration that will be paid to the rights holders in 2021 will be significantly reduced. I would like to announce now that we are prepared to do something about this, said Minister of Culture Abid Q. Raja at a press conference today. – Uplifting signals from the Minister of Culture, say TONO's CEO Cato Strøm and Chairman of the Board Jørgen Karlstrøm.
/ 20/11/2020 / Kristian DugstadMinister of Culture Abid Q. Raja today presented the Ministry of Culture's proposed changes in connection with the rebalancing of the 2020 state budget on Friday, November 20. Raja reviewed a number of new additional appropriations and changes to the support schemes for the cultural sector in 2020.
See the Minister of Culture's statement at the bottom of the article.
TONO has pointed out on a number of occasions that the compensation and incentive schemes have not affected TONO's members. It was therefore very pleasing that the Minister of Culture mentioned TONO specifically in today's presentation:
– Then we know that these measures will not affect the licensees well enough, and TONO has been keen to communicate this to us. As the incentive scheme is set up, the TONO remuneration that will be paid to the licensees in 2021 will be significantly reduced. I would like to announce now that we are prepared to do something about this, and we will come back to this as soon as we have something to report and we have clarified the various arrangements for it. So you know, that we are working on it.
– We are of course very pleased that the Minister of Culture specifically mentioned TONO in today's press conference. We have pointed out in consultation inputs, consultation conferences, in letters to the ministry and in the media that TONO has had an income loss of approximately NOK 43 million related to Norwegian rights as a result of the corona measures, and which will hit payments heavily in 2021. At the same time, the crisis arrangements established by the government have not affected TONO's members. We now know that we have been heard, and we look forward to working with the ministry to find suitable solutions to this loss, says CEO Cato Strøm.
Strøm emphasizes that TONO already has a good dialogue with the Ministry of Culture about this.
– Yes, we have a good dialogue, and I also want to emphasize that the government is making a formidable effort to assist cultural life in the difficult situation we are all in. The fact that it was also clear today that they will initiate proper work to compensate for the loss of fee income shows that the government and the ministry are listening. They should be commended for that, says Strøm.
TONO's chairman Jørgen Karlstrøm is also relieved after today's press conference.
– For both TONO and TONO's group associations, the Norwegian Composers' Association, NOPA and Music Publishers, it has been an important political issue in 2020 to get the Ministry of Culture to understand the situation of the authors and music publishers. For us, it has been difficult to accept that the rights holders have been almost defined outside the concert's value chain, and have not been included in either the compensation or incentive schemes. It is therefore very gratifying to hear the Minister of Culture's promise that the Ministry will now work to find a solution to the TONO members' significant loss of remuneration income. No concrete proposals for solutions were presented, so we are naturally excited to see what will end up happening, but TONO will naturally take the initiative to continue the dialogue with the Ministry to promote the matter to Norwegian music creators and music publishers, says Karlstrøm.
For more information about the changes the Minister of Culture presented today, read the press release on the Ministry of Culture's website: Rebalancing of the 2020 budget: Increased subsidies and adjusted support schemes in the cultural field.