Promoting Finnish creative music is an important part of our basic task and our reason for being. We want to carry responsibility for the diversity of music and for improving the working conditions of future generations of music authors. This means providing financial support, actively promoting Finnish music and developing the whole industry.
Our goal is a society that is a good place for both making and using music professionally. As a result of our operations, new, innovative and diverse music is created and new music authors get excited about the industry.
Teosto’s support of creative musical art and its diversity is funded through cultural contributions, which Teosto withholds on the basis of decisions by its members and in accordance with the agreements it has made with its rightsholders and foreign copyright societies. In 2022, a total of EUR 3.5 million in cultural contributions were withheld, which amounts to 6% of the distributable amount of royalties.
We aim for the growth and internationalisation of the Finnish music industry, the development of professional competence and increased interest in and appreciation of the music industry. This will help Finnish music and its authors grow and thrive.
Teosto financially supports the diversity of music in many ways:
- We support the activities of Teosto’s member organisations (the Finnish Music Creators’ Association, the Society of Finnish Composers, the Finnish Music Publishers Association). Through their activities, the organisations support the financial and professional interests of their members and contribute to ensuring good conditions for music in Finland.
- Support is also given to Teosto’s member organisations’ foundations and funds, such as the Malmstén Foundation, the Sibelius Fund and the fund of the Finnish Music Publishers Association, which use grants to support diversity in music and creative music.
- We provide funding to the Finnish Music Foundation, which awards grants for creative work, music performance, publishing, training and marketing.
- We support Music Finland, which supports the internationalisation of Finnish music authors and the growth of music exports, among other things.
We also provide direct financial support for making creative music. Teosto’s support distribution for Finnish music is intended for Finnish notated works, and it is granted by Teosto’s Repertoire Committee. With Teosto’s commission grants, we promote Finnish composition commissions and the creation of new score-based music.
Cultural contributions have also been used to fund a total of four rounds of COVID-19 financial support to compensate for the financial losses of our rightsholders during the COVID-19 pandemic. The last round of support was organised in spring 2022. During it, we provided EUR 1 million of COVID-19 financial support to a total of 1,315 music authors and publishers. In total, EUR 4.5 million of COVID-19 financial support was provided during the COVID-19 years and 4,686 applications for support were approved.
Awarded since 2003, the Teosto Prize is one of the biggest art prizes in the Nordic countries. Every year, we award it to one or more Finnish works of music.
The purpose of the Teosto Prize is to annually recognise bold, original and innovative works of music. With the prize, we also want to support the diversity of genres and increase appreciation for the work of music authors in society. The winners may represent any genre.
In spring 2022, the Teosto Prize’s prize money was a record EUR 60,000, while the maximum amount of prize money is normally EUR 40,000. The decision to increase the prize money was made because, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the prize covered works of music published or premiered in the previous two years. An exceptionally large number of nominees were selected, a total of 12 works, and the prize money was divided equally among four winners.
Teosto carries out various communications-related cooperation projects to increase appreciation for Finnish music and make its authors more visible in the Finnish culture sector.
Since 2018, we have presented the Music Author of the Year award at the Iskelmä Gaala as a recognition of special achievements in creating a wide range of schlager music. In 2022, the award went to the young composer and lyricist Tiina Vainikainen.
At the Emma Gaala for music producers, we are a partner of the Song of the Year category, highlighting the people behind Finnish hit songs. In 2022, the Song of the Year award went to the song “Dark Side”, which was written by the band Blind Channel and represented Finland at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest.
Other partnerships in 2022 included the Tampere Biennale, which is one of the most important events for Finnish contemporary classical music. We also award a Reporter of the Year prize for exemplary reporting of performance information. In 2022, the prize was awarded to troubadour Tuomas Lehto.
The use of music in AV productions, such as films and TV series, has become a significant category of music use in recent years. In 2022, Teosto set up a partnership with Screen Helsinki, an AV industry event. Together with Gramex, Teosto awarded the “Vuoden Musiikkioivallus” prize to the Maija Isola film for innovative use of music.
Teosto seeks to play its part in responding to the networking and competence development needs of the music authors of the future and creating equal opportunities in the music industry.
Every year, we run a Top 20 – Future Hitmakers course, which aims to help young music authors make progress in their career and network with other music industry professionals as well as inspire them to create new music. The course is offered in cooperation with the Finnish Music Publishers Association, the Finnish Music Creators’ Association and Music Finland. During the spring 2022 course, 20 students attended six teaching sessions. The course was offered remotely earlier in the year, but the participants could meet in person for the studio days in late spring.
At the annual Musiikki & Media music industry event, we produced lots of content that supports the professional development of music authors, including content about changes in listening habits, the impression TOP lists create of the music industry and the music streaming market in Europe.
The Teosto Talks events, which we hold twice a year, are seminars open to all where we discuss current the most current and interesting issues in the music industry. In 2022, the topics of the Teosto Talks events were the impact of NFTs on the music industry and the use of data in the music industry. During the year, we also held three webinars where we shared the latest information on the accumulation of royalties with our members.
We also influence the industry’s development through numerous cooperation projects with other music industry organisations. In 2022, we participated in projects such as a survey project that looked at discrimination and inappropriate behaviour in the music industry. Together with 11 other industry actors, we also created the Safe at Every Stage guidance, which helps people tackle harassment and inappropriate behaviour.
We also took part in the Puhtaasti project, which seeks to educate people about copyright, and the campaign for respecting the rights of authors ©-DAY. Together with other copyright societies, we take part in the ISNI project, which improves the metadata for cultural content. The project is coordinated by the National Library of Finland and its goal is to get international ISNI identifiers for creators in various artistic fields.
In late 2022, we started a join survey project with 10 other music industry actors to identify the causes of the uneven gender distribution among music authors. The results of the survey were published in March 2023 and measures to improve the industry’s diversity will be taken on the basis of the results.
Teosto seeks to engage in dialogue with decision-makers to ensure that the importance of Finnish musical culture and music creation to Finnish society is understood. Our advocacy work aims to increase awareness of and appreciation for musical culture as well as ensure good working conditions and long-term funding.
In 2022, the new musiikkiala.fi website became a key influencing channel that distributes information to decision-makers about the music industry’s key indicators and importance to society. Teosto set up the website together with Gramex, and many music industry actors take part in producing content for the website.
In 2022, we held the Flow Talks Music event at Flow Festival together with seven other organisations. In the panel discussion, key decision-makers, led by the Prime Minister, discussed the future of the music industry. Another panel discussion featuring politicians discussing the importance of the music industry was held at the Music X Media event in October.
Teosto’s cultural ambassadors are a network of music authors and decision-makers that aims to increase cooperation and grassroots-level communication between those who make music professionally and those who make decisions about their working conditions. The network’s members include about 70 Members of Parliament, music authors and publishers, who form pairs of ambassadors. In 2022, we held three joint events for cultural ambassadors as well as numerous smaller, one-on-one meetings.