TONO in Norway is the latest collecting society to report positive figures for 2019, but also a warning about the hit to songwriters’ and publishers’ revenues in 2020 from Covid-19.
The society’s revenues in 2019 from royalty collections were NOK 771m (around $82.9m), up 9% year-on-year. Meanwhile, distributions to songwriters and publishers grew by 9.9% to NOK 674.4m. There was one outlier within this: a NOK 100m settlement from a legal battle with pay-TV distributor RiksTV.
However, TONO didn’t shirk the fact that 2020 is expected to be a difficult year for its collections, and thus for its members. “TONO’s currently projected loss of income from March to the end of August is NOK 107m, with concerts and background music being hit hardest. However, we will not see the full effects until 2021, warned CEO Cato Strøm.
The society is hoping that its members will get help from the Norwegian government. It’s the latest reminder that even as the Covid-19 lockdown eases – some concerts are already happening in Norway – some of the financial hit from the first half of 2020 is yet to come.
Image by By Bricolage / Shutterstock.com
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