A total of 1,315 composers, lyricists and music publishers received Teosto’s COVID-19 financial support
In Teosto’s fourth round of COVID-19 financial support, EUR 1 million will be paid to composers, lyricists, arrangers and music publishers still adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The criteria for receiving financial support were met by 90% of the applicants. The support will be paid to the applicants by Easter.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will be felt in the music industry for a long time. Copyright royalties are being distributed to music authors after a delay and recovery from lost job opportunities will take time.
This is already the fourth time when Teosto is paying the COVID-19 financial support to composers, lyricists, arrangers and publishers to alleviate the loss of income caused by the reduced amount of royalties. The aim is to facilitate the continuation of artistic work during the pandemic and after it.
“Many music industry professionals have been forced to find other ways of making a living. There is a threat that an irreplaceable amount of expertise is being lost in the field. With the COVID-19 financial support distributed between 2020 and 2022, we want to contribute to professional music authors and publishers having opportunities to continue their work,” says Risto Salmine, CEO of Teosto.
EUR 1 million was available for Teosto’s fourth round (10–28 February 2022) of COVID-19 financial support. A total of 1,474 applications were submitted by the deadline, 1,315 of which were approved. 159 applicants did not meet the criteria for receiving financial support.
The criteria for receiving support were the following:
• Teosto membership
• The total amount of distributions paid during 2018–2020 is at least EUR 1,500 (gross) for specific distribution categories, the main categories being concerts and live events, commercial radio and commercial television, background music, stage, cinema, Internet PVR services and Yleisradio. The application process took into account distribution categories that the COVID-19 pandemic has been estimated to affect negatively either directly or indirectly.
The support will be paid by Easter
The financial support amounts granted to the applicants are divided into twelve categories in proportion to the distributions paid to the applicant. For this round, the smallest amount of support to be paid is EUR 270 and the highest amount EUR 5,000. The decisions on financial support were made by a committee that was appointed by Teosto’s Board of Directors and included representatives of composers, lyricists, arrangers, music publishers and Teosto’s office.
Each applicant has been informed of the decision personally by email. The support will be paid to the applicants by 14 April 2022. The support will be paid via the funds of Teosto’s member organisations (the Sibelius Fund of the Society of Finnish Composers, the Finnish Music Creators’ Association Fund and the Finnish Music Publishers Association Fund).
Teosto’s COVID-19 financial support is a grant for artistic work. It is tax-free income for music authors, subject to the conditions laid down in the relevant legislation (section 82 of the Income Tax Act). The maximum total amount of tax-free grants in 2022 is EUR 24,475.56. For music publishers, financial support for activities is taxable income (section 4 of the Act on the Taxation of Business Income). Applicants are not obligated to report how they used the support.
Further information
- The applications can still be found in the Klaavi system www.klaavi.fi
- Advice about COVID-19 financial support until 22. April: koronatuki@teosto.fi and tel. +358 (0)9 6810 1112. Open Mon–Fri 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
