International Music Royalties to Teosto Members Continued to Grow in 2025

Teosto’s international operations continued to strengthen, and royalties were collected from 142 countries, reflecting the wide international footprint of Finnish music.

The royalties were received through Teosto’s reciprocal agreements with foreign collecting societies, the online hub covering digital platforms, and the Nordic mechanical rights organisation NCB. All royalties are distributed by Teosto to composers, lyricists, arrangers and music publishers.

Growth driven by live music and online platforms

Germany remained the most important territory for Finnish music, generating nearly EUR 1.4 million in royalties. The overall growth of the German music market and the strong performance of the live sector increased distributions to Teosto’s members. Royalties received through Germany’s collective management organisation GEMA increased by 11% year-on-year. The United Kingdom also continued stable growth, and process improvements now enable faster payment of royalties from the UK to Teosto.

In Sweden, royalties amounted to slightly over EUR 1 million. Although radio use declined, royalties from online services more than doubled in 2025. A major contributor to this growth was Sweden’s Eurovision representative Bara Bada Bastu, which became Sweden’s most streamed track of the year.

Royalty accrual from the United States remained stable. Growth was driven especially by works written in the U.S. that include Finnish rightsholders.

“Internationally, 2025 was a successful year. Strong growth in Europe and the continued expansion of online music use significantly increased distributions to our members,” says Helmi Yli Äyhö, International Manager at Teosto.

Strong performance of both older hits and new releases

Approximately 40% of all international distributions came from online platforms. This share is expected to continue growing, as Teosto entered into a new agreement at the turn of the year with UK-based ICE (International Copyright Enterprise Services Ltd), one of the world’s leading music licensing companies. ICE collects royalties from over 200 services worldwide.

Online music usage featured both long-standing classics, such as In the Shadows and Freestyler, and renewed interest in earlier Nightwish works—including Sleeping Sun and Nemo—following the band’s new album release. Käärijä’s Cha Cha Cha maintained its position among the top international tracks. In addition to Bara Bada Bastu, several new works also rose to prominence during the year, including Ich Komme and the unexpectedly successful Just a Simple Thing in Germany.

“The dynamics of online use are fast, and it is great to see Finnish music finding new audiences across new territories and services,” Yli Äyhö says.

International royalties paid out to a broad rightsholder base

Royalties were distributed from 142 countries, which is 15 more than in 2024. The number of rightsholders receiving international royalties remained stable at around 23,000. The ten members receiving the largest shares accounted for 35% of the royalties paid from abroad.

Sibelius’ works continued to generate the highest amount of international royalties, but otherwise the top list represented a diverse mix of classical music, metal, pop/rock, and film music creators.

Teosto aims to further grow its international collections and ensure that Finnish music reaches audiences across borders. This work includes monitoring the use of Finnish music on foreign TV channels and developing more efficient sharing of concert set lists between societies.

Teosto will continue strengthening its collaboration with foreign collective management organisations, improving the quality of work documentation and accelerating distribution cycles, ensuring that rightsholders receive their royalties accurately, transparently and on time.