This year, TONO's annual meeting will decide on a fundamental question regarding the composition of the board. Should the board continue to consist exclusively of authors, music publishers and employee representatives, or should one external board seat be opened to add additional expertise?
/ 08/06/2026 / Willy MartinsenTONO has not previously had board members outside these groups. The board is now proposing to open up external representation on the board.
The background to the proposal is described in the annual meeting document that deals with the proposed amendments to the statutes:
"The proposal opens up external representation on the board, and involves a change in the composition of the board to strengthen overall expertise and flexibility, while preserving the majority of authors. The purpose is to ensure that the board has sufficient expertise to handle increased complexity related to technological development, legal requirements, financial management and international partnerships."
The choice of model for board composition may also have an impact on who is elected as chairman.
The Nomination Committee has therefore presented two alternative recommendations to the Board, each with its own proposed Chairman. Although it is the amendment to the Articles of Association that is being voted on, the presentation of the two proposed Chairman provides an image of the perspectives underlying the different alternatives.
Åge Engelstrand Westbø has been proposed as an external representative on the board. The nomination committee has also nominated him as chairman of the board.
Westbø, born in 1963, is an investor and chairman of the board. He has 35 years of experience in the financial industry in Norway and Europe, and was one of the founders of SKAGEN Funds in 1993. The company was sold to Storebrand in 2017, and he currently holds a number of board positions within technology, industry and music. He is, among other things, chairman of Music DNA AS, which works with digital rights infrastructure and technology-based music licensing. He is also chairman of T-Time Vinyl Plant, which produces and presses physical music. Through these roles, he has gained practical experience at the intersection of the music industry, technology and copyright management.
Westbø is concerned with fair remuneration for music creators, with TONO being equipped to meet the challenges of artificial intelligence and digital platforms, and with cultural funds being managed as the cultural policy instrument they are, for the benefit of both established and future generations of Norwegian music creators.
– Why are you motivated for the position on TONO's board?
– It's about my view of justice. Those who create music should be paid for what they create — it's so simple, and yet so difficult to achieve in practice. I have spent 35 years understanding how capital and value creation are connected, and I clearly see that music creators systematically lose out in the face of platforms that profit enormously from their content. At the same time, I am committed to TONO being an organization that invests in the next generation — those who have not yet found their audience, but who will shape Norwegian music for the next decades.
– What can you add that will be of value to TONO and its members?
– I have done one thing throughout my career: built something from nothing, in a landscape where many said it was not possible. SKAGEN started as a small player on the outskirts of the Norwegian financial world and became one of the leading fund managers in the Nordic region. It happened because we understood what we were doing, and because we were able to bring people with different interests together around a common goal. I bring that experience with me to TONO. I understand capital structure, technological shifts and regulatory frameworks — but I also understand that an organization like TONO is only as strong as the trust between its members. I will use my place on the board to build that trust, and to ensure that TONO makes the right choices in a period where mistakes can have long-term consequences for Norwegian music creators.
– Have you had time to form an image of TONO's challenges, market changes – and what TONO can become?
– I have read most of what is publicly available, and I know the landscape. Streaming revenues are distributed according to models that largely favor the largest players, and it is a structural injustice that Norwegian rights holders bear the consequences of. The AI issue is more acute than many people think — the lawsuits in Europe point to a future where rights holders either receive real compensation for training data, or not. TONO must position itself now, not wait for the practice to take hold. Section 69 of the Copyright Act provides a platform, but it must be used actively and strategically. What I envision is a TONO that not only manages remuneration, but is a clear European voice in the debate about what fair compensation actually means in an era where music is consumed in billions and the creative sector is constantly under pressure.
If TONO's annual meeting decides that the board will continue as before, with only songwriters, composers, lyricists, music publishers and employees on the board, the election committee has recommended that Tom Hugo Hermansen be the board's chairman.
Hermansen, born in 1979, is a composer, lyricist, music producer, artist and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in the music industry. He has achieved international success as the creator of other artists with multiple chart-topping hits in Asia. With KEiiNO He has built up a meritorious export success at the intersection of traditional and modern pop music, and he has worked with music for both film and band and orchestra productions.
Tom Hugo also has broad experience in how value is created, managed and distributed in the music industry, from idea development and creative process to commercial exploitation in international markets. For two decades, he has developed concepts, released and marketed music, negotiated licensing and sub-publishing agreements and managed touring activities, and built up several companies around this. He is CEO and Chairman of, among others, Mii AS, Hugoworld AS and Honeybay Music AS. He has also been involved in startup projects within music technology, including a collaboration platform for professional songwriters.
Tom Hugo is the deputy chairman of NOPA, board member of The Rights Alliance, member of the APCOA committee in European Songwriters Alliance and deputy representative on TONO's board.
– Why are you motivated for the position on TONO's board?
– As deputy chair of NOPA, I have gained insight into the important political work that is needed to maintain our rights. We have some very important years ahead of us, and we will not be able to save copyright and put a stop to the AI ghost without working together. When the election committee believes that my experience is good to have on the board, I will of course run.
– What value can you add to TONO and its members?
– I know something about most aspects of authorship, and building financially solid companies with lyrics and music as a basis. As an administrative one-man band in some companies, I have also had to become good at thinking creatively and utilizing digital tools to reduce costs. I have also lived abroad for several years and have experienced that collaboration between people from different environments gives the best results – both culturally and economically.
But perhaps most important is the experience from many different work situations as a composer and lyricist: Both as a session songwriter for other artists, as an artist/songwriter, in bands and in cross-genre projects where value is not just measured in kroner and øre.
For me, good leadership is primarily about the ability to see what resources you have in the team and to play each other well. And regardless of who ends up in which position, I am sure that the "new" and "old" on the board together will become a strong leadership.
– What is your view of the market changes, TONO's challenges and what TONO can become in the future – and is there anything you would like to work towards in particular in your board position?
– We are facing some challenging years as creators, and I believe it is very important that TONO is at the forefront of defending copyright – in partnership with sister organizations in Europe. TONO must address the most important issues our members are concerned about: late payments, lack of use of Norwegian repertoire, and institutions that do not want to pay what the use of our works is worth. One challenge is that the working lives of members have become more unequal, and knowledge of each other's situation may not be good enough. But we can build better unity around the fight that concerns us all: that someone has stolen our works and created services that flood streaming services with content that undermines the value of real lyrics and music.
I also think it would be wise to review the instruments for activity and genre breadth, so that you reach both more and more correctly. When I had my first #1 hit in Japan, I couldn't afford to take all the opportunities that came my way, because it would take two years before I got hit money in my account and I wanted to keep the rights in my own publishing house. So we need to have better solutions for creators in the growth phase – for example, advances on income that you know will come. In addition, I think we should have more measures aimed at those who don't have performing income to supplement their work.
There are good systems and resource persons in both administration and political influence in the group associations and in TONO, so if we can collaborate more across the board, we will get more out of every penny. Because I believe that together we can contribute to better framework conditions, more use of the catalog and works in "narrow" genres, and more commercial successes for our members if we distribute tasks to a greater extent. And by delivering better digital solutions faster and becoming better at information, TONO's reputation will increase - both among members and customers.
Those of you who have voting rights in TONO have received an email with an invitation to TONO's annual meeting. You have also received information that you can find the annual meeting documents on the annual meeting portal tono.meetando.no. There you can read the nomination committee's full recommendation.
Also read previous issues related to TONO's annual meeting