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Without a framework agreement between the Norwegian Music Council and TONO, 4330 choirs, bands and ensembles have become individual customers of TONO. This means more work and higher TONO expenses. We want to make it as easy as possible to use music, but then the Norwegian Music Council must come to us about a new framework agreement. We are ready at the negotiating table.
/ 17/06/2024 / Willy MartinsenTONO and the Norwegian Music Council were unable to agree on a new framework agreement for the Norwegian Music Council's performing arts groups last year. What are we actually disagreeing about?
TONO's task is to ensure that the professional group of composers and lyricists is paid fairly. We could no longer defend the previous framework agreement because it was too heavily discounted with a remuneration of a full 40 percent below our minimum tariff.
TONO therefore proposed a new agreement that would have given the composers and lyricists 182 kroner more in "salary" per concert - that is, an agreement that was still discounted, but now by 20 percent.
We know that the concert economy in general and the volunteer economy in particular can be demanding. That is why TONO is committed to ensuring that our customers have time to adapt to changes. In our proposal for a new agreement, a transition year with a 30 percent discount was therefore included in 2024.
With a 20 percent discount, which TONO can defend because framework agreements save us a lot of work, the average cost of the TONO license per team under the Norwegian Music Council would increase from approximately 1000 kroner to 1400 kroner over the next two years.
Read Minister of Culture Lubna Jaffery's response to Grunde Almeland (V) on this matter on the Storting's website.
We ask for your understanding that we have difficulty seeing that this increase per corps, choir, orchestra and big band over two years will "threaten the voluntary music life", as the Norwegian Music Council has written in several recent reader posts.
With the Norwegian Music Council rejecting this proposal, we are now unfortunately in the situation that 4330 Norwegian Music Council members must now individually apply, report and pay for each concert like other organizers. It is both more work and more expensive than if we had had a framework agreement.
Based on the Collective Management Act, TONO must ensure equal treatment and objectivity in our tariffs. When entering into larger framework agreements, we can still grant discounts, because this gives TONO cost savings. At the same time, we must ensure that composers and lyricists are paid fairly. Composers also notice the general cost development in society.
We believe that our proposal for a framework agreement with NMR both meets the volunteering community's need for low costs and little administration and our members' need for reasonable payment.
We look forward to continuing the dialogue with the Norwegian Music Council and hope we can reach an agreement that all parties can accept.
Signed:
Geir Gaarder, Negotiation Director at TONO
Willy Martinsen, Communications Director at TONO