Watch CEO, Cato Strøm, present TONO's input to the 2021 State Budget during an open hearing in the Storting's Family and Culture Committee.
/ 26/10/2020 / Kristian DugstadOn Friday, October 23, 2020, TONO participated in an open hearing in the Storting's Family and Culture Committee. CEO, Cato Strøm, presented TONO's input to the 2021 State Budget.
Watch TONO's input in the video, and read it below.
TONO has comments related to chapter 325, item 77: "Stimulus funds for culture, volunteering and sports in connection with covid-19"
TONO is owned and managed by composers, songwriters and music publishers. We grant permission for the public use of the music of our 35,000 members and the world's other music creators for a fee. TONO had a turnover of NOK 771 million in 2019. TONO payments are among the most important sources of income for Norwegian music creators.
The government proposes to allocate NOK 1,1 billion to a stimulus scheme that will contribute to activity in cultural life, including the concert market. Reference is made to Bill 142 S, where we read that "it is assumed that the applicant/organizer pays remuneration to involved subcontractors and rights holders in accordance with ordinary agreements entered into."
TONO's members are the rights holders in the music performed by artists, bands and orchestras at concerts, and thus in 2021 TONO will license concerts based on both the concert organizers' ticket revenues and the public support they receive as part of the stimulus scheme.
The model does have the weakness that the creators will be at the mercy of the concert organizers' ability and willingness to apply for support, as well as the audience's willingness to attend events at a time when coronavirus infection is an imminent threat. Nevertheless, this is a viable option given the circumstances, but also in how the government will respond to TONO's greatest concern with regard to the State Budget - and which we will explain in the following:
The state budget outlines no solutions to the fact that TONO from March and the end of 2020 will lose approximately NOK 80 million in total on infection control measures. This is due to less use of music in cinemas, gyms, cafes, broadcasting and so on. We, that is, Norwegian authors and music publishers who have TONO payments as one of their most important income areas, are worst affected by the reduced activity in the concert market.
It has been difficult to understand why the rights holders – including TONO members – have been excluded from the compensation scheme for concert organizers and their subcontractors as a result of cancelled and postponed concerts. They are the ones who create the musical works that are performed by artists, orchestras and bands. A concert organizer pays the artist to perform, and TONO pays for the use of the composer's work. When concert activity declines, it not only affects artists, it also affects TONO's members. The artists have been able to be compensated, but not those who compose the music.
Around NOK 43 million of our losses are related to the rights of Norwegian authors and music publishers. The consequence will be lower TONO payments to Norwegian composers, lyricists, songwriters and music publishers in 2021. In particular, the large concert settlement for autumn 2021, which mainly stems from concerts in 2020, will be much lower. Here is our proposed solution:
The Ministry of Culture and TONO already have an agreement where the ministry pays approximately NOK 2 million annually to TONO, earmarked for music performances in church services and other religious ceremonies. In other words, there is already a scheme where TONO distributes earmarked funds from the Ministry of Culture. The Ministry of Culture is also TONO's supervisory body and licensee. In this way, the ministry can have full visibility into our operations. We believe that the government should provide a special grant, a compensation for lost income in 2020 of NOK 43 million, to TONO - and which is earmarked for settlements to TONO's members. We will use historical data to ensure the most accurate settlement possible to the authors and music publishers. It is our opinion that no other scheme will be able to achieve this as well.
TONO's three group associations, NOPA, Musikkforleggerne and the Norwegian Composers' Association, also presented their input during the hearing. You can see these below.
Jørgen Karlstrøm, chairman of the Norwegian Composers' Association and TONO.
Kai Robøle, chairman of the board of Musikkforleggerne and deputy chairman of TONO's board.
Ole Henrik Antonsen, chairman of NOPA and member of TONO's board.