How much will I receive for a concert?

Here is an explanation of how TONO calculates payment settlements for different types of concerts. NOTE! The names used here are fictitious and are only included to illustrate the process as clearly as possible.

 Licensed concerts

With the exception of exceptionally large concerts where the concert promoter pays a minimum, single fee of NOK 25,000 to TONO, the payment settlement for concerts in this category is based on a points system. These concerts would therefore be settled collectively rather than individually. This is the reason TONO carries out one general concert settlement per year, in the autumn.

Once the allocated points for a concert have been calculated, the concert promoter’s paid fees and the number of performance minutes during the concert will determine how much should be paid to the TONO member for the concert. Here is the equation (the letters in brackets refer to the explanations for each paragraph further down the page):

1. Concert points (a) x Duration of the work (b)/The entire duration of the concert (c) = Work points (d)
2. Work points (d) x Point value (e) x Percentage of the set (f) = Distributable amount (g)

1. a) Concert points
   ‘Trine’s pub’ in Lillesand has arranged a concert with a local band ‘Lillesand Cover Band’, which plays familiar and well-loved cover songs. Trine reports the concert to TONO and TONO sends Trine an invoice for NOK 1750, which is calculated on the basis of the gross revenue from ticket sales. At this concert, Lillesand Cover Band played seven cover songs, of which five were by the songwriter Åge Hansen.Let’s see what Åge Hansen will receive in royalties from TONO after this cover band played his five songs.

We begin with the paid license fee of NOK 1750, replace ‘NOK’ with ‘points’ and round up to the nearest hundred. NOK 1750 has now become 1800 points.

(NOTE! The lowest number of allocated points is 1000, which means that an invoice of e.g. NOK 670 will give 1000 points. No concert will achieve more than 10,000 points. One last thing: We reduce the number of concert points in cases where ‘Lillesand Cover Band’ (or anyone else) holds four or five concerts in the same venue – if all the concerts are so small that they have been allocated the lowest number of points, i.e. 1000 points)

To our equation: The concert has been allocated 1800 points

1. b) Duration of the set
   The next thing we need to know is how long it took the band to perform the five Åge Hansen songs. This took a total of 25 minutes, according to the concert report sent to TONO.

To our equation: 25 minutes of performed music

1. c) Duration of the concert
   In addition to the 25 minutes of Åge Hansen songs, Lillesand Cover Band played two other songs, which means that the concert lasted a total of 35 minutes. This is where TONO’s 40-minute rule comes in:

If a complete concert lasts less than 40 minutes, TONO will calculate the concert as if it were 40 minutes long. We have therefore determined the duration of the concert, for the sake of this equation, as 40 minutes.

To our equation: The concert lasted 40 minutes.

1. d) Points
   We use the figures above to calculate points for the Åge Hansen songs:

 1800     x             25         /             40          =             1125 points for the songs

2. e) Point value
   The calculation of this point value is based on how much money TONO has available to distribute – divided by – the total number of points. This point value will normally be somewhere around 2. In 2017, the value was 2.21216. In 2019, it was 1.95.

To our equation: The point value is 1.95

1. f) Percentage of the work
   The last thing we need to know is the percentage of rights to the work by the rights holder. Åge Hansen has written both the lyrics and the melody, which entitles him to 100 per cent of the rights. We then multiply by 1. For songs that have two rights holders, we would divide by two or, alternatively, multiply by 0.5 and so forth.

1. g) Distributable sum
   Now we can finally calculate the sum to be distributed:

1125     x             1.95       x             1             =             NOK 2 193.75

Åge Hansen will therefore be paid NOK 2,193.75 in royalties by TONO for Lillesand Cover Band’s 25-minute performance of Hansen’s music, where the concert promoter paid NOK 1750.

Low-tariff live performances

These are live performances but not really concerts requiring customer reports, due to the especially low tariff (e.g. for hotels and restaurants). In cases where members submit music reports for performances in such places, the concert is generally awarded 300 points. The rules otherwise follow the same principles as for licenced concerts, using the equation described above.

Subsidised concerts

These are concerts that primarily perform a repertoire that TONO, for cultural policy reasons, has decided to support with additional funds. This equation is the same as for licensed concerts, with two exceptions:

1) The point value is higher
2) A reduction factor will apply if the work has previously received payments in the subsidised category two or more times.

For a series of concerts with a performer in the subsidised category and with the same repertoire for all concerts, only the two first concerts will be settled as subsidised concerts. The following concerts will be settled as regular licensed concerts.

Religious services and musical prayer meetings

Religious services and prayer meetings accompanied by music will receive the standard 1000 points. Thereafter, the same rules will apply as for licensed concerts and as explained in the above equation.