TONO is seeing historically high revenues and is in the midst of major changes, while expectations of members and customers are evolving rapidly. TONO’s CEO Karl Vestli shares his reflections on 2024 for TONO and the road ahead.
The figures TONO presents for 2024 are recordbreaking, impressive and paint a picture of a growing Norwegian music scene. However, in reality, relatively few creators receive large payouts, and the majority receive modest payouts.
Many creators are calling for greater transparency, higher tariffs and better solutions. Many of them are also worried that their work is under threat from technological deregulation and artificial intelligence. For us at TONO, these concerns are an important reminder that we need to work smarter and more efficiently on making changes to our practices and regulations.
In the past year, TONO has taken very good care of the rights we are entrusted to manage by our 43,000 members, and millions of other creators in our sister societies around the world. Our revenues have never been higher, and for the first time in TONO’s history they exceed NOK 1 billion. This tells us that music continues to generate significant value for those who use it in their work, such as concert organisers, streaming services, film and TV producers, radio channels, shops and restaurants.
At the same time, TONO is undergoing a period of significant investment in technology and infrastructure, in order to provide better services to members and customers, and to ensure the quality of our work in the future. This means that costs are higher than previously, but we have nevertheless managed to keep total distributions to members at a higher level than the previous year.
In 2024, TONO’s annual meeting approved major changes to the distribution model. These changes were not only necessary for TONO to comply with the Collective Management Act, they also signal the start of an important reform of TONO’s practices and regulations in line with the expectations of many members, customers and the industry.
Our members are calling for greater insight into distributions, better reports, a more thorough understanding of how cultural funds are utilised, and a competitive administration cost. We at TONO welcome these challenges and look forward to continuing to work on them. A first step will be taken in connection with the annual meeting in 2025, where several amendments to the articles of association, principles and terms are set to be presented.
Building closer and stronger relations with our members and the industry as a whole has been, and remains, our key strategy. We organise member forums and seminars, and collaborate with important meeting places such as by:Larm, Trondheim Calling and a number of contexts where music is created. We organise meetings, seminars, debates and share data and knowledge in these meeting places.
We have also increased our contact with music users, our customers, and will continue to do so in 2025. This includes meetings with the media industry, technology communities, background music users in areas such as the accommodation and food services sector, concert organisers and the voluntary sector.
Building even stronger relations with our customers is an important part of TONO’s strategy now and in the future. The legal requirement to set tariffs that reflect the value our repertoire represents for our customers means that we need to work more closely with our customers to understand their needs and how music can help generate greater value for them.
The music industry is changing at a rapid pace. Technology, politics and new business models keep changing our framework conditions. Our development programme “Mjølnir” is in its third year and contributes to increased digitalisation and restructuring of TONO.
We have taken a proactive approach to artificial intelligence, recognising opportunities for our members while standing up against the copyright infringements that the current training of AI models represents. Both Norwegian and European legislation is lagging behind in this area. Developments in, and the use of, digital business models and services also present challenges. The big tech companies and platforms are getting bigger and more powerful, and TONO needs to collaborate and seek alliances to an even greater extent to be better positioned in relation to them in the future. It is natural to seek closer cooperation with other management organisations and publishers.
TONO is undergoing renewal in many ways, not only technically and organisationally, but also visually and physically. Our new visual profile will be introduced in connection with our annual report and annual meeting. We will also complete the TONO premises at Kongens gate 12 in 2025. In the new year of 2026, we will finally be able to welcome members to meetings and workplaces in their own premises in the centre of Oslo.
Our ambition is for forces to join across the industry at this address, enabling us to strengthen our members and their music together, and ensure that customers generate even greater value when music is used!
