Teosto launching cooperation with Session – the pilot aims to improve metadata in music industry

Finnish Composers’ Copyright Society Teosto begins cooperation with start-up Session. During the pilot, an interface to the Session service will be constructed. In the future, music authors can use the interface to share work information to copyright organisations’ databases, among other things. In addition, this will expedite receiving song copyright royalties.  

Session provides a platform with which the composer metadata of music can be saved already in the studio environment while the music is being created. Incomplete metadata is currently a significant problem in the industry: there may not be sufficiently extensive data available quickly enough for the multiphase chain related to making music, or the data is not in a consistent format. This is often the reason why authors may not necessarily receive royalties for all the songs they have been involved with.  

Session (previously known as Auddly) is a company that is funded, among others, by Björn Ulvaeus, known from ABBA, and the world-renowned music author and producer Max Martin. The company was established in 2012, and it is run by music authors.  

“We are delighted to launch the partnership and the Creator ID Verification with Teosto in order to help their members to manage their metadata more efficiently. Early data identifiers are key in order to form a fair and sustainable music industry”, says Niclas Molinder, CEO of Session.  

This autumn, Teosto will begin building an interface to the Session service. The service will facilitate especially the life of professional music authors and experts who co-write songs.   

In the Session service, the author first verifies their identity. Then they can use the service to fill in information about the songwriters and people included in making the song, already in the studio. At the same time, the song receives all key identification numbers of the industry with which it can be identified in different databases. The interface easily transmits this information to other copyright organisations, but also music users. Currently, Session is piloting the service with music industry giants, such as Spotify and Universal Music.  

The composer metadata is nowadays often scattered and inconsistent, which makes exact distribution of copyright royalties, among other things, difficult. The service will also benefit consumers. In the future, all author information of songs will be available to them, too, in a more extensive manner. This will create added value when listening to music.  

“Our goal is that the information on creators of the song and parties who have participated in the creation process will be available faster and in better quality. Session helps us ensure that everyone receives uniform data. This is important for the entire music industry,” says Turo Pekari, Senior advisor, innovation and business insight at Teosto.  

For further information, please contact: 

• Teosto, Turo Pekari, tel. +358 (0)50 575 0357, turo.pekari@teosto.fi
• Session, Niclas Molinder, niclas@session.id