NCB and music downloading

When your music is sold by music download providers, NCB ensures that you receive remuneration for these sales as a composer, lyricist or publisher.

According to agreements between the Nordic/Baltic "TONO companies" and local suppliers of music on the Internet, NCB collects fees for music downloads and pays out fees quarterly in March, June, September and December.

You can expect to receive remuneration from the NCB for each individual download sold by online music providers. The amount of the remuneration may vary. For example, you will receive a higher remuneration for a track sold as a single download, as opposed to a track downloaded as part of an entire album. European copyright societies have decided to view music downloads as a combination of performance rights and mechanical rights. The NCB requires remuneration for both types of rights.

If your music is sold by an online music provider that has an agreement with a copyright company outside the Nordic and Baltic countries, the foreign copyright company will collect the fee and accordingly send this to NCB, which will settle this further to you. Please note that collection and settlement for download sales in the USA may have different tariffs and a different practice in this area.

A foreign (outside the Nordic/Baltic) online music provider can obtain a license from a foreign copyright society to sell music online within the NCB territories. Often such licenses are issued by the copyright society in the country where the international headquarters of the online provider is located. The copyright society in this country will collect the fee and forward this to the NCB.

For further information on selling music online, download in pdf format. The information sheet is initially available only in English for the benefit of Finnish and Baltic members as well as other members who are not from Nordic-speaking countries.