Our goal is a society that is a good place for both making and using music professionally. 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 creators grow and thrive.
We support the vitality of music culture by facilitating the creation of new music and by promoting diversity and equality in music, as well as by working to improve the operating conditions of the industry. In addition, we highlight themes related to music and its creators in our communications.
Teosto actively works to promote the well-being of its rightholder members by offering financial security, community spirit and support. However, discrimination and inappropriate treatment in the music industry may impair well-being, which means that there is a need to promote equality and fight discrimination.
Our most important task is to promote the well-being of rightholders through concrete actions.
- We collect and distribute royalties to music authors and publishers for the public performance and reproduction of their music, which enables the success of a professional Finnish music author. In 2025, royalties collected by Teosto itself reached an all-time high of EUR 84.8 million (2024: EUR 79.2 million).
- We actively participate in public debate and work to improve the working conditions of music creators. In 2025, we issued statements related to the financing of the music industry and participated in the preparation of combined unemployment insurance, which is important for music creators as it improves unemployment security for those who combine salaried work and entrepreneurship.
- Our services are targeted at rightholders according to their individual needs. The focus was on supporting internationally operating music authors, composers and music publishers in their business activities and careers. We also paid special attention to rightholders whose activities and career are on an active upward trajectory.
- Equality is seen as a key goal with regard to a sustainable future for the music industry. During the year, we carried out an extensive equality survey and participated in Aalto University’s research project “Equal Future for Music”, in which we are involved in building a sustainable path towards a more equal music industry.
Read more about Teosto’s social responsibility actions in 2025
for the vitality of music culture by promoting the creation of new music, the diversity of music and the working conditions of future generations of authors.
In 2025, a total of EUR 2.5 million was spent on music promotion activities. The funds allocated to support activities are the cultural contributions withheld for national promotion activities, which the association withholds on the basis of the decision of its voting members. The sufficiency of these funds is ensured through asset management by means of the Teosto Fund, for example.
Our financial support is directed at a wide range of recipients, such as Teosto’s member organisations (the Finnish Music Creators’ Association, the Society of Finnish Composers, the Finnish Music Publishers Association), the Finnish Music Foundation and Music Finland. Through their own grants and funds, these organisations support the diversity of music and creative musical art.
We worked on building the future of Finnish music culture through the Teosto Cultural Foundation in particular. In 2025, we donated approximately EUR 20 million in investment assets from the Teosto Fund to the Foundation and EUR 0.5 million for the Foundation’s actual support activities. The additional transfers under preparation will strengthen the position of the Teosto Cultural Foundation as a future-oriented and permanent support organisation for the diversity, change and growth of Finnish music. The Foundation distributed a total of EUR 560,000 in grants during the 2025 application round and spent an additional EUR 133,000 on funding projects.
We provide direct grants in the form of a grant for score-based music, which is intended for Finnish notated works, and a commission grant, with which we promote Finnish composition commissioning and the creation of new fully scored music.
Teosto strives to promote equality and diversity among music authors. To ensure the future of Finnish music, it is important that everyone has equal opportunities to pursue a career and work in the music industry. This is the only way to ensure that the music culture of our small language area continues to be rich and evolving in the future.
In 2025, we carried out an extensive equality barometer survey in collaboration with other music industry organisations. According to the results, 53% of music industry participants feel that the industry is equal. Nearly one-third of the respondents had experienced discrimination and inappropriate behaviour in the past year. The barometer helps to draw attention to equality and non-discrimination efforts and the necessary measures.
Teosto is closely involved in Aalto University’s Equal Futures in Music research project, which originated from Teosto’s equality survey in 2023. The aim of the project is to create a common vision and timeline with concrete measures for the music industry, which will make the industry more equal and non-discriminatory in the long term.
In 2025, the proportion of women among Teosto’s private individual members was unchanged at 21%. The figure only increased by a few tenths of a percentage point. The proportion of women has increased slowly, although the proportion of women is slightly higher among new members, amounting to 25.6%. We are currently unable to compile statistics from Teosto’s register on the number of non-binary people among our members, but, according to a gender equality survey conducted in 2024, their share among people operating in the music industry is about 3%.
In 2025, the share of women in royalties paid to music authors was only 15.4%. This figure has also remained relatively unchanged over the past 10 years. Women’s earnings were the highest on the radio, with 22% of distributions paid to women. In the online category (digital streaming and social media platforms), women’s share of the distributions was only 12%. Women registered an average of 6 works during the year, while the corresponding figure for men was 8.5.
On the other hand, the gender distribution in Teosto’s staff is female-dominated. In 2025, 50% of Teosto’s personnel were women, and 35% were men. The remaining 15% of the personnel had not reported their gender as part of their personal information. Four out of nine management team members and three out of six board members were women. Teosto also has various task forces and committees that prepare matters for decision-making. Of the members of these groups, an average of 38% were women. Read more about the committees and task forces
As an employer, we have signed the theses for promoting equality, non-discrimination and diversity in the music sector and, in our equality plan, recorded measures to guarantee everyone a safe work environment that is free of discrimination. The achievement of equality and non-discrimination is monitored by the cooperation group, which assesses the situation annually.
Teosto implements various communications projects to ensure the visibility and appreciation of different music genres and author groups and, therefore, the diversity of Finnish music. We want to highlight all the diverse music making methods and author groups that are part of the rich Finnish music culture.
Awarded since 2003, the Teosto Prize highlights the diversity of genres and appreciation for the work of music authors in society. The prize allows us to recognise bold, original and innovative works of music. In spring 2025, the EUR 40,000 Teosto Prize was divided between two winners.
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 2025, the award went to Kaisa Korhonen.
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. The 2025 Song of the Year award was won by the Finnish-Swedish co-production Bara Bada Bastu.
The “Vuoden musiikkioivallus” (the Music Innovation of the Year) award, which highlights the use of music in AV productions, was presented for the fourth time in 2025. The award for the innovative use of music went to the documentary film ‘The Last Misfits by the Golden River’.
We also promote the diversity of music genres by partnering with the Finnish contemporary classical music festival Musica Nova and the composition and lyrics competition at the Seinäjoen Tangomarkkinat tango festival.
We also award a EUR 2,000 prize for exemplary reporting of performance information. In 2025, the prize was awarded to Aleksanteri Laakso, a musician based in Perniö.
We aim to help young, new talents break into the music industry by holding an annual Top 20 Future Hitmakers course for young music authors. The objective of the course is to help young music authors advance in their careers and network with other music industry professionals as well as to inspire them to create new music. The course is held in cooperation with the Finnish Music Publishers Association, the Finnish Music Creators’ Association and Music Finland. In addition, in the summer and autumn of 2025, we organised the Uudet Soundit (“New Sounds”) campaign with our live category customers to get new young performers into the summer’s big festivals.
As an employer, we also actively create opportunities for younger people to work for us. Through the “Nuoret ja Teosto” (“Youth and Teosto”) concept, we offer young people interested in the field work experience periods, internships and part-time employment opportunities.
Teosto engages in dialogue with decision-makers to ensure that the importance of Finnish music culture and the creative primary production of music to Finland is recognised and understood. The goal of our lobbying efforts is to ensure good working conditions and long-term financing. We report our activities to the Finnish Transparency Register. In 2025, we were in contact with a total of 138 different parties and the total number of contacts was approximately 300.
Teosto engages in lobbying and advocacy efforts together with its member organisations under the initiative Musiikin luova alkutuotanto (“creative primary production of music”). The key themes of lobbying and advocacy efforts in 2025 included AI and its impacts in the creative industries. We also participated in the preparation of the Cultural Policy Report and the Growth Strategy for the Creative Economy, which were included in the Government Programme, as well the preparation of combined unemployment insurance, which affects the social security of music authors. Unfortunately, there were still cuts targeted at the cultural sector in the government discussion on spending limits in spring 2025 and, together with the rest of the cultural sector, we engaged in lobbying efforts to advocate for continued investment in culture and the creative economy. In relation to these themes, we issued statements and opinions, published blog posts, and actively kept in touch with the parties preparing the decisions.
Municipal and county elections were held in spring 2025, and our joint lobbying initiative focused on the creative primary production of music prepared shared goals in relation to the elections. The goals were spearheaded by supporting grassroots activity, the role of music in economic policy, and the implementation of music and culture education in municipalities. These themes were actively communicated to candidates and parties, and representatives of the joint lobbying initiative participated in the creative and music industries’ panel discussions related to the municipal elections.
A report on the need to reform the private copying levy, prepared by the Ministry of Education and Culture, was also completed in early 2025. Together with the rest of the creative industry, we engaged in active lobbying efforts to advance a reform project that would bring the private copying levy to the same level as the rest of Europe. Unfortunately, the reform project did not progress in the Ministry of Education and Culture during the year, despite the fact that written questions were presented in the Finnish Parliament regarding the matter.
At the international level, we carry out lobbying within the frameworks of our international umbrella organisation CISAC and our European umbrella organisation GESAC. Teosto’s CEO Risto Salminen is a member of the GESAC Board of Directors. At the international level, our lobbying efforts were focused particularly on the AI Act, which entered into force in the EU in summer 2025, and the codes of practice that complement the AI Act, which were widely perceived as insufficient in the European creative industry. We participated in broad industry petitions and campaigns and also communicated information within the domestic arenas.
Through Teosto’s cultural ambassador activities, we maintained contact with and increased grassroots-level interaction between music professionals and the people deciding on their working conditions. The network’s members include about 70 Members of Parliament, music authors and publishers, who form pairs of ambassadors. In 2024, we held two joint events for cultural ambassadors as well as numerous smaller, one-on-one meetings, which are reported as part of our lobbying activities.
We influence the development of the music industry in cooperation with other players in the industry. We do this together with other copyright societies, within the Luovan työn tekijät ja yrittäjät ry cooperation network.
Through the Musiikkiala.fi website, we share independent research findings on the impact of the music industry on society. The music industry’s collective lobbying and advocacy efforts also intensified in 2025. Examples of joint activities included a municipal elections panel discussion and, during the Helsinki Festival, a Music Talks panel discussion on the subject of the well-being impacts of music.
As a follow-up to a survey on AI carried out in 2023, Teosto conducted a new survey in early 2025 on the impacts of AI on the music industry. According to the results, 47% of all Finnish music industry professionals already use AI in some form. The results also reflected rising concerns: as many as 88% of the respondents were worried about the unfair distribution of income from music, up from 80% two years earlier. To increase awareness, we also organised a number of AI Afterwork events on AI-related themes during the year. We are also involved in the LuovAIn project formed by four higher education institutions, which develops ways for creative and cultural sector actors to take advantage of AI in their own work and adapt to the changes brought about by AI.
Twice a year, we hold Teosto Talks events to discuss current issues in the music industry. In 2025, the talks focused on creating exposure for young music authors and the future of the live music sector.
The joint ISNI project of Finnish collective management organisations was concluded in 2025, and now Teosto’s music creator customers also have an International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI). The ISNI (International Standard Name Identifier) is a globally used author identifier that uniquely identifies individuals and organisations associated with any creative work.