What is the difference between TONO and Gramo? Who is entitled to money for a song? Do you need a music publisher? If these questions make your sweat drip and your scalp itch, you are not alone.
/ 18/03/2019 / Kristian DugstadWhat is the difference between TONO and Gramo? Who is entitled to money for a song? Do you need a music publisher? If these questions make your sweat drip and your scalp itch, you are not alone.
Text and photo at top: Kristian Dugstad / TONO
Not everyone who writes songs necessarily wants to work in the music industry. It's okay to play guitar or make beats in the bedroom, without having any intention of making a living from it. However, many have a dream of being able to make a living from music.
In today's music industry, navigating complicated laws, contracts, and rights can be challenging. For some, it may be easier not to deal with it at all.
“Creative people often have a blind spot when it comes to the business side of the music industry. They would rather just make music in their own world, but at some point many people have to deal with the industry,” says Mike Hartung.
He is one of the founders of the recording studio Propeller Music Division and chairman of the Norwegian Record Workers' Association. Through the latter position, he has organized the lecture tour "The Business". The goal is precisely to do something about this blind spot and the lack of knowledge.
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The difference between a song and a recording, the correct distribution of rights, contracts, record labels and music publishers – these are things you have to deal with if you want to make a living in the music industry. Hartung's desire is to help musicians and songwriters reach a basic level of knowledge.
– Rights and regulations are very intertwined in this industry. We want to try to clarify and create as much understanding as possible. This way we can help those who want a career in the music industry protect their interests.
To achieve this goal, Hartung has brought along a number of veterans from the music industry. Morten Møller from Gramo, music publisher Kai Robøle, lawyer for the media, film and music industries, Stine Helen Pettersen, and membership manager at TONO, Jan Espen Storo are joining the lecture tour.
– We have constructed theoretical situations that can arise in reality. The panel addresses these, with a background in their fields of expertise. We also answer a sea of questions from the audience. With all the expertise we have on stage, we can answer pretty much anything.
One of the several review topics is the distinction between works and recordings. According to Hartung, there is great confusion about the differences between TONO and Gramo.
– Imagine you are Mozart and write lyrics and notes on a piece of paper. That is your song. The same applies to a pop song: you own it, even if it is not recorded. These rights are managed by TONO. The recording of the same song is a different piece of property, and those rights are handled by Gramo.
What makes this distinction particularly difficult today, Hartung believes, is technology. In the past, writing a song and recording it were two completely different things.
– In the time we live in, it is incredibly easy to create a song on a laptop. You don't even have to be a musician. That's why the processes have become very intertwined. Often you create both the song, the recording and the production all at the same time. Then it is important to understand that you have also created several intellectual works at the same time.
Although Hartung and the panel have fixed topics they want to address, each seminar is different from the last. The audience has its own ability to steer the conversation.
– The level of questions from the audience was probably what I was least prepared for. The direction of the lectures has really been dictated by the audience. We can have the best plan in the world for what we are going to talk about, but ultimately it is the audience's questions that decide. And then we can end up anywhere.
He takes the overwhelming commitment as a clear sign.
– When there are not enough chairs for everyone who wants to come in, it proves that this is a necessary measure. It is a volunteer effort that we are not paid for in money. The payment is when people come over after the seminar and say that it is the best industry seminar they have ever attended.
"The Business" has so far been held in Bodø, Tromsø, Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger. But the tour is not over yet.
Tuesday, March 26 The lecture will be held at the Cultural Center in Oslo.Tuesday, May 7th, you can join us The Business at Union Scene in DrammenThe opportunity will also arise in Kristiansand after the summer.
http://www.mxst.no/