Over 9000 invoices are now being sent from TONO. Norwegian businesses pay over 57 million kroner to music creators for their music use.
/ 24/01/2020 / Kristian DugstadTONO is currently carrying out its largest annual marketing activity. Over 9000 TONO customers will receive invoices for their music usage in 2020. In total, this amounts to well over 57 million kroner.
“A great many customers who use background music in their business receive an invoice today. This includes hotels and accommodation, catering, transport, fitness centers, work canteens and all kinds of customer premises such as shops and hair salons,” says Ellen Tove Gunleiksen. She heads the Marketing Department's invoice group at TONO.
All public use of music requires permission from the copyright holders. In Norway, TONO manages the copyright of composers, songwriters and music publishers, and enters into agreements on their behalf.
In TONO's marketing department, there are three employees who work daily with contracts for background music in companies. For them, following up on daily invoice mailings is the most labor-intensive period of the year.
– It's a hectic time we're entering now. When we send out 9000 invoices, we naturally get a lot of inquiries from our customers, says Bjørn Gabrielsen.
Many agreements need to be updated or changed. Some companies have moved or closed down, while others have stopped using music.
– We will be answering inquiries for many weeks to come. It will only start to calm down when the unpaid invoices go to collection in mid-March.
The marketing department also invoices continuously throughout the year and the background music area totaled NOK 70,8 million in 2018.
It wasn't many years ago that the Marketing Department wrapped invoices by hand. Putting 10,000 letters in envelopes is a huge job. Fortunately, today, well over half of the mailings are digital. The physical mailings have been outsourced to an external partner.
– It's good for the environment and it's good for TONO. We save an incredible amount of time and work when so much is done electronically. This is just a taste of the future, says Ellen Tove Gunleiksen.
She encourages all companies to use EHF or e-invoice. In addition, the Marketing Department will encourage customers to send inquiries regarding agreements by email.
– In order to create or change an agreement, we need to have it in writing from the customer. Everything goes faster if the contact is by email from the beginning.
Questions and inquiries regarding music agreements should be sent to marked@tono.no.
Do you play music, or want to do so, but don't have an agreement with TONO? Use the online forms that match your industry: Dining and accommodation or shop and customer premises.
