We bear responsibility for our personnel and finances. We ensure the efficiency and competitiveness of our operations and safeguard the financial interests of our rightholder members. This allows us to be a reliable partner, employer and corporate citizen.
In its operations, Teosto complies with the principles of good governance, which ensure that its operations are efficient, transparent and fair. Teosto’s governance model is based on member democracy, expert management and responsible financial management.
Teosto’s supreme decision-making power lies with the General Meeting, which meets twice a year to make decisions on Teosto’s activities and elect the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors, consisting of the Chair and five representatives of the member organisations, is responsible for strategic management, finances and the appointment of the CEO. This structure ensures that decision-making reflects the will and industry expertise of the members.
The duties of the General Meeting, the Board of Directors and the CEO are specified in the Statutes of Teosto. In addition, we are committed to complying with the instructions of our global umbrella organisation CISAC (Professional Rules for Musical Societies and Binding Resolutions for Musical Societies).
Teosto’s Code of Conduct includes legitimacy, good governance, customer orientation, taking care of personnel, transparency, equality and non-discrimination, sustainable development and information security. This Code of Conduct guides Teosto’s operations and ensures that Teosto fulfils its legal, social and ethical obligations. Our operations aim to balance the interests of all stakeholders, i.e. rightholders, copyright societies and music users.
Good governance is not only an internal matter at Teosto. Instead, it is reflected in the operating conditions of the entire Finnish music industry. Continuous development and open dialogue with stakeholders ensure that Teosto stays up-to-date and is able to respond effectively to the changing needs and challenges of the music industry.
Royalty collection and distribution
Teosto’s finances are based on the collection of royalties and their distribution to domestic and international rightholders. When music is played, for example, on an online platform, on radio, television or social media, in a concert or as background music, the law requires royalties to be paid to the rightholders of the music.
We protect our rightholder members’ interests by negotiating with parties that use music, from Finnish media companies to international online platforms. We make agreements on the use of music and the amount of royalties, collect royalties and distribute them to composers, lyricists, arrangers and publishers four times a year.
For radio and television performances, the amount of royalties collected is influenced by the reach of the performance channel, the duration of the performance and the number of performances. For events, the amount of royalties is influenced by the size of the venue and the proceeds from ticket sales (paid events) or the number of attendees (free events). For online services, the amount of royalties depends on whether the service is subject to a fee or not.
We make distributions to music authors and publishers according to the Distribution Rules valid at the time of distribution. The Distribution Rules are approved by Teosto’s voting members at the General Meeting.
The authors of a work will mutually decide on royalty shares within the limits of the Distribution Rules. The publisher’s share is agreed on in the publishing agreement. The minimum amount paid in the distribution is EUR 25.
Royalties from radio and television performances can be paid for the year of joining Teosto and for the two previous years. Royalties from gigs and concerts may be paid for the year when you joined Teosto. It is possible to apply for expedited distribution for large concerts.
Read more about Teosto’s Governance and Finances in 2024
In 2024, we paid EUR 68.8 million in royalties to composers, lyricists, arrangers and publishers for the use of their music (EUR 65.4 million in 2023). Of this amount, EUR 36.2 million was paid to Finnish music authors and publishers and EUR 32.6 million to foreign music authors and publishers. In Finland, a total of 13,611 (12,855) composers, lyricists, arrangers and music publishers received distributions, which was 5.9% more than in the previous year.
In Finland, a total of 13,611 (12,855) composers, lyricists, arrangers and music publishers received distributions, which was 5.9% more than in the previous year.
We always strive to operate as cost-efficiently as possible. Our goal is to ensure that our rightholders receive distributions for the use of their music as comprehensively as possible.
A key financial indicator of our operations’ efficiency is the expense percentage. We aim to provide high-quality, reliable copyright services with a reasonable expense percentage.
The speed of distribution from the performance event to the payment of the royalty to the rightholder is also becoming an increasingly important indicator of competitiveness.
In 2024, our operating costs decreased slightly. Teosto’s operating costs amounted to EUR 12.25 million (2023: EUR 12.39 million). The expense percentage of our operations was lower than last year, amounting to 13.4% (2023: 14.6%). Learn more about the determination of the expense percentage here.
In addition to the operating costs, the total costs of our operations also include the withholding of cultural contributions decided on by Teosto’s General Meeting. Based on a decision by its voting members, Teosto’s withholding percentage for cultural contributions was 6% of the net royalties in 2024, which is a moderate rate when compared internationally.
Teosto actively promotes regulation that takes into account the protection of the property of authors when it comes to their works and the competitiveness of the creative economy as AI develops. We strive to ensure that the use of AI will also improve authors’ working conditions and the competitiveness of the creative industry, and not ruin them. Teosto participates in the implementation of the EU AI Act, which is key for the future of Finnish creators and the content industry.
Our extensive international networks enable the protection of the rights of Finnish music authors and publishers and the collection of royalties around the world.
International cooperation gives a small country like Finland more power to negotiate the remuneration level of music authors and publishers. Teosto owns the music online service licensing company Polaris Hub together with Koda in Denmark and Tono in Norway. Polaris Hub negotiates and signs agreements in a concentrated way with multinational digital music services such as YouTube, Spotify and, for example, Meta platforms.
Teosto has reciprocal representation agreements with copyright societies in more than one hundred countries.
These international copyright representation agreements enable Teosto to grant licences in Finland for works of music from practically all over the world and, on the other hand, to collect and distribute royalties for Teosto’s rightholder members from all continents.
The Nordic Copyright Bureau (NCB) is responsible for granting licences related to reproduction rights, as well as international cooperation.
One of Teosto’s strategic priorities is to develop international operations and increase royalties from abroad. We see plenty of opportunities in the international market for Finnish music authors and publishers.
Royalties from foreign copyright societies to Finnish music authors in 2024 were more than a quarter higher than in the previous year, totalling EUR 5.6 million. Royalties were collected from a total of 77 countries. The largest individual sources of royalties were Germany, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. Growing markets include, in particular, the United States, Sweden and Asia.
The growth is not only due to the growing popularity of Finnish music around the world but also to Teosto’s investments in international operations. We have better identified our members operating in the international market and developed services targeted at them. A dedicated customer relationship manager was appointed for authors looking towards the international market, and during the year we also improved our internal processes, deepened our understanding of the market and used data more efficiently than before. In addition, we have increased cooperation with our foreign partner organisations and visited the German GEMA and the French SACEM copyright societies, among others, to ensure the smooth collection of royalties for Finnish authors.
Teosto also contributes to the financing of Music Finland, which focuses on the export and internationalisation of Finnish music. Founded in 2024, the Teosto Cultural Foundation supports the promotion of Finnish creative musical art and the efforts to increase the value of a Finnish repertoire both domestically and internationally.
We invest in two separate investment portfolios: the portfolios of Teosto ry and the Teosto Fund. The revenue from investment activities increases the result of our operations and safeguards the long-term viability of our promotion activities.
The Teosto Fund was established in 2009 for the purpose of promoting Finnish creative musical art and improving the conditions for it. The purpose of the Fund is to maintain and secure the continuity of these promotion activities in a situation where previous sources of funding are reduced or eliminated.
The primary source of the money in the Teosto Fund’s are the cultural contributions withheld for promotion activities, which Teosto withholds by the decision of its voting members. The right to withhold cultural contributions is based on Teosto’s membership agreement and its reciprocal representation agreements with foreign copyright societies. In 2024, the percentage of cultural contributions withheld from royalties was 6.0% (2023: 6.0%) after the deduction of costs, i.e. about EUR 3.8 million.
The Teosto Fund is a self-financed reserve, the capital of which is intended for the promotion of Finnish creative music. Teosto’s investment policy guides the use and investment activities of the Fund. The general investment principles are decided on by the General Meeting, which has authorised the Board of Directors to decide on the approval of the investment policy and the organisation and supervision of investment activities.
The portfolio of Teosto ry consists of funds that are waiting to be distributed to rightholders. The activities and investing principles of Teosto ry comply with the Act on the Collective Management of Copyright and are confirmed by Teosto’s General Meeting.
Teosto’s investment policy is built around the central principles of a long-term investment horizon and diversification. Thanks to these principles, our investment activities are resilient to short-term changes in value. We require asset managers who take part in our investing activities to commit to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and we also require active ESG reporting.
The development of the investment market was varied in 2024 due to global events and their consequences. The property investments in both the Teosto ry and the Teosto Fund portfolios decreased in value. According to the accounts, the total revenue from the investments of Teosto ry was approximately EUR 2.4 million (2023: EUR 1.2 million). The total revenue from Teosto Fund’s investments was approximately EUR 0.3 million (2023: EUR 0.6 million).
At the end of 2024, the market value of the Teosto Fund’s investments was about EUR 34.3 million and the rate of return was about 6.1% p.a. (2023: EUR 45 million and 3.8% p.a.). At the end of 2024, the capital in the Teosto ry portfolio, calculated on the basis of market value, was about EUR 42.0 million and the rate of return was 7.5% p.a. (2023: EUR 40.5 million and 2.1% p.a.).
Teosto protects the privacy of its rightholder members, music user customers and stakeholders and processes personal data in accordance with current data protection legislation.
In its operations, Teosto processes various kinds of personal data, such as the contact information of rightholders members and music user customers, work information and financial information. The data is mainly collected from the individuals themselves, official registers and partner organisations.
The objective of our information security activities is to support Teosto’s business, protect Teosto’s property and reputation, meet the security requirements imposed by laws and stakeholders and ensure the continuity of operations.
Teosto regularly assesses and analyses information security risks. There is a separate process for handling and reporting information security incidents. Teosto has also published a privacy notice that describes the principles of the processing of personal data in more detail.
Each of our employees is responsible for information security and data protection. Our employees are trained in responsible data processing.
We have described how we process personal data in Teosto’s Privacy Policy. We have recorded the most important guidelines for information security in our information security policy and the related supplementary instructions. The principles of data processing have been recorded in Teosto’s Privacy Notice.
Competent and service-oriented employees that feel well are the key factor that allows us to provide high-quality service that meets the needs of our members and customers. At the end of 2024, Teosto employed 79 people (2023: 68). Our employees enjoy working for us: the average length of employment is 11.8 years (2023: 12.9).
We invest in our personnel in a long-term and systematic manner. We support well-being at work through proactive work ability activities, open dialogue and the development of leadership and supervisory work. Comprehensive occupational healthcare services, annual well-being at work plans and various employee benefits, such as sports and culture benefits and lunch benefits, are available. In addition, employees are encouraged to exercise during working hours, which improves coping, especially in autumn and midwinter.
Teosto’s leadership principles emphasise strategic vision, clear goals, trust and inclusive and result-oriented operations. Leadership is regularly assessed with 360-degree feedback. The interaction between employees and supervisors is active and supported by regular goals and well-being discussions and performance appraisals.
We measure our personnel’s well-being and productivity with the Quality of Working Life (QWL) index. In the survey, our employees respond to 15 questions and use them to assess how the quality of working life is reflected in leadership, supervisory work, organisational culture, competence and processes. At the same time, the employee may offer suggestions for development for each thing they notice. The survey provides us with up-to-date information on the risk of incapacity for work, turnover, sickness absence and burnout.
In 2024, our QWL index was excellent, with an average of 77.3% from two measurements (2023: an average of 73.5%). The average for Finnish organisations is 60%.
Our indicators include the number of sickness absence days as well as the number of disability pension decisions, occupational accidents and early support discussions. In 2024, the number of sickness absence days was 5.77 per employee (2023: 3.94). There were no disability pension cases or occupational accidents during the year. Our long-term well-being at work management efforts are reflected in the moderate incapacity for work expenses and sickness absences, better job satisfaction and better performance.
Teosto’s budget and financial statements are approved annually by the General Meeting. In addition, we also prepare a transparency report on our operations in accordance with the Act on the Collective Management of Copyright. In the report, we examine our financial indicators from a wider perspective than in our financial statements.