Teosto’s Annual Report 2024: a record amount of royalties collected, the establishment of the Teosto Cultural Foundation and the beginning of the age of AI

CEO Risto Salminen’s review

Last year, Teosto collected a record-breaking EUR 89.2 million in royalties for composers, lyricists, arrangers and music publishers. Total royalties increased by 6.4% year-on-year.  The total distribution of royalties to rightholders increased by 8.9% to EUR 77 million. Teosto’s total operating expenses amounted to 13.4%.  

The strong financial foundation of our operations is a prerequisite for the development of our services and advocacy work aimed at improving the operating environment. 

A strong year for concerts and festivals 

In 2024, Teosto collected a record amount of royalties from music events. The largest relative increase was in royalties from live gigs, concerts and music festivals, which increased by 35% from the previous year to EUR 7.3 million. The growth is partly explained by the concerts held in Finland by major foreign performers, but also by the growth and activity of the Finnish concert and festival audience.​ 

Royalties from abroad also increased by a remarkable 26% when compared to 2023. Royalties from Germany and the United States saw particularly big increases. The increase in the royalties we collect from abroad shows that Finnish music is becoming more international and getting more play abroad than before, and that our continuous efforts to improve the collection of international royalties are delivering results. We collect the majority of the royalties from abroad through our partner organisations, which we have in more than 100 countries.  

The digital distribution of music also continued to grow, although the growth showed signs of levelling off. The online category as a whole grew by 6% year-on-year to EUR 20.7 million. ​ 

Online and live tour licensing is under increasing pressure to become more efficient. In the face of increasing competition, our goal is to remain a competitive partner for our domestic and international rightholders. We do this by developing our operations and choosing the right partnerships in a changing market.  

Technological development ensures the functional capacity and services of the future   

In 2024, we continued to develop our technological capabilities for the future in cooperation with our domestic and international partners. When it comes to developing our technology, we focused on multi-year projects to upgrade the systems for work documentation, distribution and reporting. We also upgraded Teosto’s financial management systems. We also continued to revamp our online services and started to develop the services for music user customers. Working with partners to develop technologies and systems creates synergy and ensures good and continuous ability to develop technological capability.  

The many faces of generative AI were a key theme of the year 

Last year, the development of generative AI was one of Teosto’s key themes. The development of AI will have a revolutionary impact on the music market of the future. According to a study published by CISAC in December 2024, generative AI services will lead to the loss of up to a quarter of music authors’ revenue in 2028, unless remuneration practices are agreed on with AI developers and AI-based service providers.  

Even though the development of generative AI is a major threat to the future of creative work, it also provides an opportunity to use AI tools to assist creative work. Together with other Nordic copyright societies, Teosto published instructions for the registration of music created with the help of AI in order to enable the registration of AI-assisted music in the systems. In addition, AI is expected to significantly improve the efficiency of Teosto’s operations in the future.  

The development of AI is very fast and never stops. The key issue for the creative industry is the compensation for the use of creative content in the training of generative AI and the use of services developed on the basis of the content. Together with other Nordic copyright societies, Teosto published the basic principles of AI licensing in April 2025. We strive to continuously improve our practices and decisions. Our goal is to ensure the rights of creative workers and the competitiveness of the creative industry in the age of AI.    

Stronger advocacy through better cooperation 

The development of generative AI was also one of the key themes of our advocacy work in 2024. The EU AI Act entered into force in summer 2024. The Act aims to ensure that AI systems in the EU are safe and respect fundamental rights. The EU also established the European AI Office, which has been tasked with drawing up a Code of Practice that AI operators can commit to complying with. The work will continue in spring 2025.  

2024 was also a busy year for lobbying and advocacy due to the Finnish Parliamentary Elections and European Elections. In its objectives for the Government Programme, Teosto focused on growth opportunities for the creative industry, AI legislation and social security issues. In EU lobbying, we set joint objectives for the European Elections together with our member organisations (the Society of Finnish Composers, the Finnish Music Creators’ Association and the Finnish Music Publishers Association). In addition, we worked closely with GESAC to establish contacts with the new European Parliament, with AI regulation as our key issue. 

We carried out music-related advocacy work together with our member organisations, the Finnish Music Creators’ Association, the Society of Finnish Composers and the Finnish Music Publishers Association. We further strengthened the joint advocacy, which bears the name “musiikin luova alkutuotanto” (“the creative primary production of music”), by appointing a manager for the joint advocacy to coordinate the cooperation. 

Promoting Finnish creative musical art 

We established the Teosto Cultural Foundation by a decision of our voting members in early 2024. Through its activities, the Teosto Cultural Foundation aims to promote the cultural and financial success of Finnish creative musical art. The Foundation’s goal is to raise professional creators that are close to the pinnacle of Finnish creative musical art to a new level – both in Finland and internationally.  

The Teosto Cultural Foundation also aims to strengthen structures that promote the exposure of authors and works and the building of audiences. Furthermore, the Foundation promotes diversity and reform in the industry.  

Rightholders are interested in Teosto’s activities

A total of 1,762 new rightholder members joined Teosto in 2024. At the end of 2024, the total number of rightholder members was 42,410.  In addition, the number of Teosto’s voting members increased last year by 294 to 1,187 voting members. Of the members who joined Teosto in 2024, 26% were women and 74% were men. The average age of the new members was 35. We are happy to see the increased interest in Teosto membership and being a voting member, as we act on behalf of and for the benefit of rightholders, and the guidelines for our activities are decided by our rightholder members. We hope that the gender distribution of our rightholder members will become more equal in the future.    

Our goal is to produce financial and cultural benefits for both our rightholder members and our international partners. Efficient collection of royalties, investments in new technologies and advocacy work for a better operating environment for music creation and music business in Finland and internationally help build the foundation for a sustainable future for the music industry.