Nordic licensing agreement on the use of music in YouTube
A new joint Nordic agreement on the use of music on YouTube has been reached. The agreement was entered into under the auspices of the Nordic alliance of collection societies, Polaris, on behalf of Koda (Denmark), Teosto (Finland), Tono (Norway) and Stef (Iceland). The agreement enters into force on 1 October 2020.
YouTube is one of the most widely used digital channels in Finland: according to a recent survey, as many as 82% of Finns use it also to listen to music*. A newly signed agreement ensures that Finnish composers, lyricists, arrangers and music publishers will continue to receive royalties when their music is published and listened to on YouTube.
Wider coverage with the new agreement
The new joint Nordic agreement differs from the individual countries’ previous agreements by extending beyond the national use of the individual collection societies’ repertoires. The new agreement includes the total use of all Teosto-licensed music on YouTube in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia.
The agreement was reached after long negotiations. Teosto’s CEO Risto Salminen is pleased that Nordic operators worked together to reach the agreement.
“The use of YouTube for listening to music has grown over the past few years. It is very important that we were able to update the agreement to correspond to the increased importance of the service. It also ensures that people in Finland can continue to use YouTube to listen to music conveniently and legally.”
The use of music on digital platforms is growing
Polaris Hub is a joint venture created by the Nordic collective rights management organisations Teosto, Koda (DK), and Tono (NO). Polaris Hub has acted since 2019 on behalf of all three organisations when negotiating and entering into agreements with international digital music services. So far, it has negotiated and signed deals with Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud and Spotify.
“Europe has become an integrated market, and music is no exception. Ensuring that digital platforms in particular are within the scope of the agreements has been one of our key focus areas. The Polaris Hub enables us to comprehensively agree on the online use of music within and also outside of Europe, which enhances the services we provide for Finnish composers, lyricists, arrangers and music publishers”, says Markus Kaarto, head of licencing at Teosto.
Teosto signed the first contract on the use of music in YouTube back in 2013. Teosto’s previous agreement with YouTube has been in effect since the beginning of 2018. As the new agreement covers a wider repertoire than before, it is not fully comparable to the Teosto’s previous, local agreement.
“Our goal is for music professionals to receive fair compensation for the use of their music from all channels. Fair conditions in the music industry ensure high-quality music in Finland in the future as well”, says Risto Salminen.
More information
- Risto Salminen, CEO, risto.salminen@teosto.fi, puh. +358 40 844 5984
- Markus Kaarto, Head of Licensing, markus.kaarto@teosto.fi, tel. +358 9 6810 1237
- Polaris Hub: polarismusichub.com
