Local radio stations are important to TONO and our members. Music is important and has value for local radio stations. TONO wants to contribute to sustainable local radio stations, while it is our job to ensure that music creators are paid fairly.
/ 11/01/2025 / Willy MartinsenIn recent days there have been several media reports about disagreements between local radio stations and TONO regarding payment. TONO wants to be a good partner for local radio stations, and finds it regrettable that we have ended up in such a situation. Against this background, we would like to clarify and clarify the local radio tariff here.
TONO's tariffs are based on the fact that music creators should be paid fairly and receive a fair share of the value their music creates. The principle is the same for everyone who uses music – whether it's streaming services, concert organizers, local radio stations and a number of other areas. The act of making music available also has a value and a price.
For local radio stations, this means that we calculate 7,75 percent of the radio channels' revenues, and then adjust the rate downwards according to how much of the broadcasts consists of music. This would mean, for example, that if there is 65 percent music in the broadcasts, the music creators receive 5 percent of the revenue.
In practice, this might look like this:
Revenue is the main principle for payment. It is the case that some radio channels have low or no income, but broadcasting the music still adds value to the channel. In such cases, the revenue-based tariff is not suitable for providing reasonable payment for the music rights. In this case, a minimum rate is used. This is based either on the catchment area for the broadcast or on a documented number of listeners.
For local radio stations, the minimum price is based on the copyright principle of "making music available to the public." In radio broadcasting, it is an objective criterion to base it on who, and how many, the music is made available to.
A radio channel that broadcasts to a small Norwegian town, for example on 38 000 inhabitants betaler 10 kroner per music lesson, while a radio channel broadcasting to a population of 117,000 inhabitants via DAB pays 39 kroner per music lesson.
Radio channels that can document the number of listeners pay for the number of listeners, not how many they broadcast to. It is important that the listenership figures are verifiable, either through Kantar's listener surveys (https://kantar.no/medier/den-offisielle-lokalradioundersokelsen/), or equivalent listener surveys conducted by an independent third party.
Broadcasting to 117,000, but documenting that you have 8,000 weekly listeners, the channel does not pay 39 kroner per music hour, but 17 NOK. (2023 prices).
Channels that broadcast to a very limited, local audience automatically end up in the lowest category, where the price is 10 kroner per hour of music broadcast, without any requirement for further documentation.
A minimum price could then look like this in practice:
The payment is then calculated as follows for this channel:
TONO has not increased prices since 2018. However, many radio channels have had their broadcasting area expanded as a result of the development of the DAB network. This also affects the payment to music creators.
The DAB network meant that TONO's local radio model had to be adapted to the expanded broadcasting areas for local radio stations, and TONO therefore introduced a new tier in 2022 for local radio stations with a broadcasting area of one to two million inhabitants, and a tier for local radio stations with a broadcasting area of between 2 million and 4,5 million inhabitants. The price per music hour for these new tiers builds on the lower tiers. This in itself does not result in any price increase from TONO, seen in isolation, and broadcasters can still pay a lower music hour price by documenting actual weekly listening.
A channel may have low or no revenue, but still have many listeners. In such cases, the minimum payment will be higher than if a revenue-based calculation had been used. Again, the principle is that the actual making of protected music available requires TONO's permission, and payment of remuneration.
TONO is constantly working to see how we can adapt to societal and market developments. We have been working for a long time to look at how we can further develop and modernize the local radio tariff. Here, we are looking at, among other things, the step-by-step model, to find smoother transitions in terms of price considering the size of the listenership. We have been in dialogue with the Norwegian Local Radio Association about this since August last year.
If local radio stations, media or members have any further questions about this text, our local radio tariff or our relationship with local radio stations, please get in touch.
Inquiries to the media department can be directed to online@tono.no, media can contact Communications Director Willy Martinsen at willy.martinsen@tono.no or 909 65,254.