TONO press release: TONO Releases Record Results in 2014 (sólo en inglés)

The Norwegian collective management organisation TONO experienced a record year in 2014, posting a net result of €45.56 million, a very strong performance given the society's small domestic market of five million inhabitants.  TONO's results have nearly doubled over the course of the past 10 years.

Streaming revenues accounted for the strongest growth in 2014, but foreign revenues also increased significantly.

Founded by Norwegian composers in 1928, TONO's total revenues rose again in 2014, making it yet another record year for the society.  Gross income climbed to €55.89 million.  After losses and mandatory deductions for the Norwegian Composers' Fund (managed by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs), the organisation's disposable net income totalled €54.63million, up 5.26 % compared to the year prior. 

The result less operating expenses came to €45.56 million. Ten years ago, in 2005, the comparable figure was €24.3 million.

"We are proud that TONO reached a major milestone in 2014 when it booked total revenues in excess of half a billion Norwegian kroners (€55.9 million).

To us, this is a confirmation that we are doing a good job of licencing rights and facilitating the use of music in the public space, while ensuring that those who create and own works of music receive the remuneration to which they are entitled," commented Cato Strøm, CEO of TONO.

Most rapid growth online

Streaming accounted for the bulk of TONO's income growth in 2014, with revenues climbing from €8.18 million in 2013 to €10.3 million in 2014, an increase of approximately 25 %.

“TONO is one of the rights management companies in the world that has seen the steepest rise in revenues derived from streaming services. This is mainly due to agreements with major services such as TIDAL and Spotify, but we are also seeing growth from film streaming services like Netflix", remarked Cato Strøm.  

More from abroad

Once again in 2014, the largest business area for TONO was broadcasting, with revenues of €18.57 million, but also the background music segment (hotels, restaurants, shops, etc.), with revenues of €6.54 million, and concerts, generating €6.26 million, provided significant revenues for the society.

TONO's revenues from abroad climbed to €3.90 million, up from €3.35 million in 2013. The most significant foreign revenues came from the Danish society KODA, the Swedish society STIM and German GEMA.  

The company to which TONO distributed the largest amounts in 2014 was STIM, with €5.80 million (largely due to Anglo-American music with Swedish sub-publishers). Second was PRS for Music with €5.26 million, and thirdly ASCAP, with €1.84 million.

In 2014, TONO concluded 1 552 rights management contracts with rightsholders, seven of which were music publishers.

At the end of 2014, TONO represented a total of 26,181 rights holders.