TONO was today awarded the Samvirkeprisen 2018. – The collective mindset has always been strong in TONO. We are proud and grateful that we have been awarded the Samvirkeprisen today, says CEO of TONO, Cato Strøm.
/ 23/10/2018 / Willy MartinsenPhoto: Svein Korshamn/TONO
– Through its own organization, TONO, it does what individual members would most likely not have the opportunity to do on their own. TONO therefore shows the cooperative's member benefits at their very best, said jury member of the Samvirkeprisen Arne Lindelien when he today presented the Samvirkeprisen to CEO of TONO, Cato Strøm, and TONO's chairwoman Ingrid Kindem. The presentation took place during the Samvirkeprøksten at the Grand Hotel on Tuesday morning.
The Cooperative Centre is behind the prize, which is being awarded for the 11th time this year. The prize can be awarded to individuals and all types of cooperatives that have in one way or another contributed to making cooperatives visible as a form of company. The aim of the prize is to show cooperatives as a modern and future-oriented form of company, which safeguards the owners' benefit from the business they run, and which provides value to society. The prize consists of a work of art worth NOK 15,000, as well as a diploma.
– We are grateful and proud that TONO has been awarded the 2018 Cooperative Award. TONO began adapting to the cooperative form in 2009, and has formally been a cooperative since 2013. We have had exclusively positive experiences with it. The cooperative form is well suited for a business like ours, where self-employed people in the same field come together in a collective and offer their repertoire to the market. When you stand together, you create far greater value than if you stood alone, says Cato Strøm, CEO of TONO.
TONO was founded in 1928 and manages copyrights on behalf of almost 32,000 members – composers, lyricists and music publishers, as well as more than 2,5 million foreign copyright holders in Norwegian territory. TONO collects royalties for all types of public transmission of musical works and pays out all profits to the copyright holders in performed works at home and abroad. In 2017, TONO's profit for distribution was NOK 564,9 million. TONO is developing strongly, and in 2017 TONO gained 1,645 new members and over 30,000 new registered works for management. TONO is owned and managed by its members. The cooperative form is based on cooperative principles, and the collective mindset has therefore always been strong in TONO.
– At TONO, we are pleased that the Cooperative Act allows us to largely continue the practice that was developed from 1928 to the present day. The principles of the Cooperative Act are based on justice and democracy, and not least a statutory gender balance that has led to governing bodies ensuring at least 40% men and women, says Strøm.
"TONO, as a rights manager on behalf of its members, shows that the cooperative as an organizational form is still well suited even in a time when composers, lyricists and artists are facing completely new challenges in digitalization and distribution via new platforms. TONO is 90 years old, and is a pioneer in the use of the cooperative form within artistic/creative industries, an area where we are currently seeing an increasing number of cooperatives being established."
– Each of us can create music that no one has ever heard before, but it would have been impossible without a community working for us. Without the TONO cooperative, we would not have been paid for the use of our music. There will be no new works if we do not work together.
Composer Glenn Erik Haugland
– The fact that authors and music publishers stand together in the TONO cooperative makes us all much stronger and more secure in receiving the performance royalties we are entitled to when our music is used publicly.
Frithjof Hungnes, music publisher (Propeller)
– I feel incredibly lucky to have such an incredibly competent and rock-solid organization that looks after my rights as a woman creator, and that always works to ensure that I get even better conditions.
Musician and composer Hanna Paulsberg
The jury for the Cooperative Award 2018 has consisted of Director of Innovation Norway Inger Solberg, Director of Communications at Obos Åge Pettersen, Director of Communications at Felleskjøpet Agri Gro Tvedt Andersen, and Arne Lindelien from Bilkollektivet (last year's winner).
Contact:
The cooperative centre, general manager May Woldsnes, tel. 900 56 732, e-mail mw@samvirke.org
Cato Strøm, CEO TONO, cato.strom@tono.no, mobile 922 16,319
Willy Martinsen, willy.martinsen@tono.no, mobile 909 65,254