Each copyright society has their own distribution schedule and distribution rules. Teosto usually receives distributions for performances outside of Finland 6 to 12 months after the performance. After this, we will process the collected royalties and distribute them to you as part of our normal process, no later than 6 months after we received them.

However, it’s worth noting that it can take up to two years to receive royalties from certain regions around the world.

Claims or complaints regarding performances abroad may be submitted retroactively up to three years after the performance. Claims or complaints submitted after that will no longer be processed and royalties cannot be paid based on them. Complaints for international royalties can be submitted in our web service.

Expedited distribution for royalties from abroad

Starting from January 2025, we will offer individual members the opportunity to apply for an expedited distribution for their royalties from abroad.

The expedited distribution will apply to royalties collected by foreign copyright societies that have already been reported to Teosto. You can apply for the expedited distribution of all your foreign income in full, and you do not need to specify from which countries you expect royalties.

We only need information about the works from which you expect royalties from abroad. With expedited distribution, it’s possible to receive international royalties in half the time.

Conditions for applying:

• Minimum amount of royalties for expedited distribution processing: EUR 1,000
• The maximum amount of expedited distribution is 80% of the expected distribution from abroad
• Expedited processing only applies to royalties collected by foreign copyright societies
• To apply for an expedited distribution, you need to be a Teosto music author member*

*During the pilot phase, the service is only available to our music author customers. The service will be expanded to cover our publisher members during 2025.

The expediting of the distribution only applies to Teosto’s processing time: it will not affect the distribution cycles of other copyright societies. Royalties must be reported to Teosto for us to be able to pay them, i.e. it is not possible to apply for a distribution for performances that just took place or will take place in the future.

Expedited distribution cannot be applied for if:

• you have received an advance from your publisher
• you have deductions related to the distribution in recovery proceedings
• you have previously received an advance payment of royalties from Teosto that has not been repaid in full
• you use the company model for receiving income from Teosto

It’s also not possible to apply for expedited processing for online audio services in Europe (e.g. Spotify, Youtube), as Teosto will pay these royalties in each distribution in any case.

Applying for expedited distribution

Fill in the contact form below to apply for expedited distribution of royalties from abroad. We will respond to your request within 12 days and confirm the amount you can apply for by email. We will send you a form that you must submit to us after completing and signing it.

We will send you an email to confirm that we have received your application.

---

Why do I have to provide information about works for which I expect royalties?

The expedited distribution of international royalties is based on data provided to us by our partner societies.

Royalties are allocated specifically to works in the initial reporting phase. To find all the royalties belonging you, we need information about the works you know have been performed outside of Finland (e.g. set list played during the tour, hit song played in certain countries).

Distribution payments

Once you have sent us the signed form, the granted advance payment will be paid within about one week in a single payment to the bank account indicated to Teosto for the payment of the distributions.

Withholding tax will be deducted from the advance payment in accordance with the tax rate we have for you. You can check your tax rate and update your tax information in the Remunerations section of our web service (Paid royalties tab).

Deduction of royalties from abroad from future distributions

The amount paid through expedited processing will be deducted for the first time from the distribution in which you would normally have received the royalties. The amount is deducted from the distributions paid through Teosto until it is fully covered (100% share for each distribution paid through Teosto).