TONO and the Norwegian Music Council have agreed on a new agreement covering 240 smaller concert organizers. The agreement is valid from January 1, 2019.
/ 16/01/2019 / Willy Martinsen– We are pleased to have reached an agreement with NMR for this organizer segment. The 240 organizer groups that are covered by the agreement have now received a good, central agreement that provides one annual performance permit for a reasonable fee. For TONO, the agreement means an increase in income that is related to the number of concerts organized by these groups, says TONO's negotiation director, Geir Gaarder.
− The agreement with TONO is very important for our teams and clubs, because it creates predictability. In our part of cultural life where voluntary efforts are high, while turnover is often low, it is absolutely crucial that grassroots organizers experience good and predictable framework conditions. At the same time as fees are now increasing, I would like to encourage this to be reflected in ticket prices. We must not underestimate that the audience may actually have a higher willingness to pay for good concert experiences, says Secretary General of the Norwegian Music Council, Bjarne Dæhli.
The agreement, which has been negotiated after a long dialogue throughout 2018, has now been approved by the boards of both organizations, and will be valid from 1 January 2019. The solution covers a total of 240 teams divided between the organizations AKKS, FolkOrg, Klassisk, Norsk Bluesunion, Norsk Jazzforum, Norsk Musikkråd, Norsk Viseforum and Norske Konsertarånger. The teams that fall outside the agreement will continue to enter into individual agreements with TONO.
– The reason for the new agreement is that the teams are organizing far more concerts than the old agreement from 2009 provided for, which was also the main reason why TONO terminated the old agreement. The old agreement licensed an average of two concerts per team per year. For the 240 teams covered by the agreement, however, we license an average of approximately 13 concerts per team per year. The new agreement thus reflects reality much better than the old one, says Gaarder.
According to the new agreement, TONO will invoice NMR for the entire fee in two semi-annual installments.
About TONO:
TONO is a non-profit cooperative, founded in 1928, owned and managed by its members: composers, lyricists and music publishers. TONO manages performance rights for musical works in Norway, and collects remuneration for their public performance. TONO represents more than 32,000 TONO members, as well as more than 2,5 million authors from other countries in the Norwegian territory through reciprocal agreements with sister societies worldwide. TONO's results for distribution are transferred to the rights holders in performed musical works. TONO facilitates the use of music in society, while at the same time providing music creators with a basis for constantly creating new musical works. For more info: www.tono.no
About NMR
The Norwegian Music Council is a collaborative network and an interest organization for the music scene in Norway. NMR has around 300,000 members, 35 member organizations, 18 county music councils/cultural networks and 150 local music councils. Visit www.musikk.no/nmr
For further information:
Geir Gaarder, Negotiation Director at TONO, mobile: 909 46 976, email: geir.gaarder@tono.no
Willy Martinsen, communications manager at TONO, mobile: 909 65 254, email: willy.martinsen@tono.no
Bjarne Dæhli, Secretary General of the Norwegian Music Council, mobile: 95 06 23 58, e-mail: bjarne.dahli@musikk.no