Jørgen Karlstrøm takes over as chairman of TONO at a disastrous time for the music industry. – It only makes me even more motivated.
/ 03/07/2020 / Kristian Dugstad– Do you know which composer is depicted on Sgt Pepper-the cover of The Beatles?
Jørgen Karlstrøm searches for the album cover for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the TV in the office. He zooms in on one of the many faces that adorn the front of the music history monument.
– Look here! It's Karlheinz Stockhausen. One of the greatest German composers of the twentieth century. And here, right next to it: William S. Burroughs. And here's Marilyn Monroe. I think in many ways this picture illustrates the complexity of music and cultural history. How art develops. Everything influences everything.
It has been just over a week since Jørgen Karlstrøm was elected as the new chairman of TONO. The nomination committee's recommendation was adopted by an annual meeting held under infection control conditions in Sentralens Marmorsal, in Kvadraturen in Oslo.
The leadership position came as no surprise. However, the international corona crisis was not part of the plan.
– I have naturally thought about it. We are in a difficult, and completely different situation than just three or four months ago. But it only makes me more motivated for the work I am about to undertake.
We are in a difficult situation, but it only makes me more motivated for the work I am about to undertake, says Jørgen Karlstrøm, Chairman of the Board of TONO.
Collective management provides a strength and robustness that a composer or lyricist cannot have alone. It is in difficult times that this becomes truly visible, Karlstrøm believes.
– When everything is going well, it is easy to forget the importance of community. In crises, TONO's unifying role becomes clearer than ever. We depend on standing together to solve the challenges we face.
The newly elected chairman has his last working day before the holiday. In just over half an hour, he will leave the premises that he, as chairman of the Norwegian Composers' Association, shares with NOPA and Music Publishers - TONO's three group associations.
At the other end of the summer, he will take up the job as chairman of the board of the organization that manages the copyrights of 34,000 TONO members, both authors and music publishers, and approximately three million from other countries. A job that is not only about money, but also about laying the foundation for a diverse and strong music life.
That's how we got into Sgt. Pepper's diverse album covers.
– TONO ensures income for each individual rights holder when their music is used. At the same time, the organization aims for the management to contribute positively to the entire creative music field, says Karlstrøm.
Maintaining musical diversity and working towards the creation of new musical works are tasks that are enshrined in TONO's statutes. A broad diversity of expression is necessary to achieve a dynamic and powerfully creative music field, believes Karlstrøm.
– Different genres are not in conflict with each other. All different segments play together and create musical development.
As Jørgen Karlstrøm takes up his new position at TONO, he leaves his position as deputy chairman. This role is taken over by Kai Robøle, chairman of Musikkforleggerne. This makes him one of very few representatives of Musikkforleggerne to have held the position.
– The publishing industry is growing rapidly, and the membership has increased from 19 to over 40 members since I joined Musikkforlaggerne. Therefore, it is great and right that we are represented in such a position in TONO. We represent the interests of nearly 3000 composers and lyricists, says Robøle.
The publishing industry in particular is in a very vulnerable situation as a result of the corona crisis. While many of TONO's individual members can cover some of their losses through support schemes for the self-employed and freelancers, music publishers are not covered by any of these.
We have managed to land on our feet every time and we will do so again. I am convinced of that, says Jørgen Karlstrøm
– The losses for TONO members will only become visible in next year's settlements. Based on the preliminary calculations, we expect a loss of 15-30 percent, and at least 30 percent for the publishers. And that's if everything goes well! The fear is that it will hit again, and we will get a new wave of infections and more strict measures.
Robøle, Karlstrøm and the rest of TONO's board are working closely with the administration to continuously calculate losses, follow political decisions and crisis arrangements. They have been doing this since the lockdown of Norway, and the work will apparently continue for a long time to come.
– At the same time, I would like to emphasize that TONO has good conditions to come out of this unscathed. Maybe things will not be exactly as before, but it is not the first time we have had to adjust. We have managed to land on our feet every time and we will do so again. I am convinced of that, says Jørgen Karlstrøm.
The story continues after the picture.
Even though the corona situation is at the forefront of everyone's minds at the moment, Robøle and Karlstrøm are concerned that TONO's fight for copyright must not stop.
– International legislation, obligations towards our sister organizations and increasing competition. These are things that I am terribly concerned about. The way we distribute money must be explainable, defensible, understandable and transparent for TONO to maintain its position and trust among our members and internationally, says Robøle.
The way we distribute money must be explainable, defensible, understandable and transparent, says Kai Robøle.
And this is work that TONO's new board is prepared to undertake. The long-term work is the most important of all.
– The challenges we had, the cases we worked on, they are not gone, even though a new situation has arisen in addition. We must continue to fight the copyright battles in order to have a secure foundation to stand on when the pandemic is over. Not everything can be solved at once, or whenever we would like. But TONO works long-term. With 90 years behind us, we must be able to look 90 years ahead, concludes Karlstrøm.
