Contemporary composer Bente Leiknes Thorsen talks about her relationship with TONO. Pop star Kai Gundelach talks about life as a 100 percent musician – and how TONO provides security.
/ 18/05/2018 / Willy Martinsen
Contemporary composer Bente Leiknes Thorsen talks about her relationship with TONO.
– Being a creative artist is demanding. I enjoy the fact that I control my own time, and I get frustrated that I control my own time. What are the advantages are also the disadvantages, says Bente Leiknes Thorsen.
She is a contemporary composer educated at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Leiknes Thorsen writes both solo works and for chamber ensembles – and has made her mark most with larger ensembles and ensembles with the human voice.
Several of Thorsen's works challenge the very concept of a work and the role of the composer – including by allowing the music to emerge from the concert hall by using everyday sounds.
– On a personal level, TONO is important because I don't have to worry about the financial side of income from broadcasting and public performance. TONO ensures that the copyright to my works is protected, and that I receive the remuneration I am entitled to. Then I can spend more time on what I should be spending time on: creating art, she says.
For Bente Leiknes Thorsen, this is indeed just one of several sources of income. She does not only work as a composer. She also teaches at the Academy of Music, serves on the jury, sits on the board of directors for Notam and the Ultima festival, among others – and is currently involved in the podcast Kompoddistene together with her colleague Therese B. Ulvo.
– I would of course like to have more time to write. But for me it is valuable to do other things, to get out and get inspiration. Being a composer can otherwise be very lonely. Teaching, for example, allows me to develop myself professionally. This type of artistic “rotation” combined with scholarships is everyday life for many composers I know, she says.
She emphasizes that TONO plays a role in Norwegian cultural life – namely, constantly working to protect copyright in the face of new technology and political changes.
– In TONO, we who create music have someone who holds the banner high for copyright in Norway and speaks for the authors. It's about ensuring that we who create the work get paid for it, and that there is ongoing professional political work to protect copyright.
The contemporary composer believes TONO's role will only become more important in the future.
– In a digitalized reality, it is more important than ever to protect copyright. At the same time, I also believe that awareness that there is such a thing as copyright is higher now than before. And it also turns out that people are actually willing to pay for good musical content, she concludes.
Pop star Kai Gundelach about life as a 100 percent musician – and how TONO provides security.
– I started as a DJ when I was 15-16 years old. That's why some people were probably surprised that I don't make club music, says Kai Gundelach.
He is best known under the stage name Gundelach. In 2015, he gained both Norwegian and international recognition for the single "Spiders". Since then, he has established himself as one of the most exciting Norwegian voices in Norwegian pop, with both the EP "Gundelach" and the current album "Baltus".
His music is low-key, melancholic electronic pop using old synthesizers, but Gundelach has his roots in the DJ booth.
– My background as a DJ has been important for making contacts and learning about the industry, he says.
Today, Kai Gundelach works full-time in music. As a musician, producer and artist – and as a DJ. He describes life as a songwriter and 100 percent musician as a cyclical roller coaster.
– It goes up and down a lot. In every way. In periods I can have a good income stream, while in other periods it can be more demanding. In the same way, my focus fluctuates a lot. Some periods are characterized by gigs, and then we have the festival season. But in periods I need to concentrate on making music, says Gundelach.
That's why he also has a studio at home, where he tries to be at least five times a week.
Going through life as a songwriter and musician is about much more than composing and playing, as Kai Gundelach quickly learned.
– When you enter life as a musician, you are quite unprepared and at a loss. Then I think about the business part. Being a musician is not just about songwriting and performing – it is also about being self-employed. You don't have a school that teaches you that part of the profession. I have sometimes thought that all musicians and composers should have also gone to BI, he says.
– Therefore, there is a sense of security in knowing that TONO is there and makes sure that I get my income. It means one less thing to think about in the business of being a songwriter – but a very important thing. It is extremely difficult to imagine how one would have solved the problem of getting the money otherwise, especially in our digital music age.
Kai Gundelach concludes:
– The model where Norway's songwriters put their songs in the same basket for management at TONO is quite ingenious. At the same time, TONO is there to fight for copyright when needed.
