On behalf of the three owner organizations as well as Icelandic STEF, the Polaris Hub has, since 2018, negotiated competitive licensing agreements, developed innovative solutions, and streamlined processes, resulting in strong agreements, reduced costs, and efficient administration.
The licencing agreements entered into under the joint venture include major global platforms such as Spotify, YouTube, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Apple Music, Tidal, SoundCloud, TikTok, and others.
Cooperation on Nordic scale no longer sufficient
After careful analyses, the organizations have nonetheless concluded that in today´s increasingly competitive, complex and scale-driven music ecosystem, cooperation on a Nordic scale is no longer sufficient. The Board of Polaris Hub has accordingly decided to initiate a phased wind down of the venture in an orderly manner around the turn of 2025–2026.
The discontinuation of the Polaris Hub opens the door to new strategic opportunities. The organizations are currently exploring alternative solutions aimed at strengthening their international licensing capabilities.
“We value the contributions made by the employees of Polaris Hub in ensuring key agreements for online platforms on behalf of our rightsholders. In light of ongoing market developments, Polaris is no longer the most suitable solution moving forward. As market conditions continue to evolve, we are now focused on establishing new solutions that will enable strong agreements for our members – solutions designed to effectively address emerging demands and market developments in the years ahead,” says Gorm Arildsen, CEO of Koda.
“We are deeply grateful to Erik Brataas and his team at Polaris hub for securing the best possible terms for rights holders in agreements with the major streaming services and platform companies. Looking ahead, we will seek even stronger alliances, reaching well beyond the Nordics. Both we and our members will also depend on more and better data to track music usage across services, with greater precision. We are confident that we will achieve this through new and larger-scale collaborations”, says Karl Vestli, CEO of TONO.
“Polaris Hub has achieved remarkable results for our rightsholders in licensing multi-territorial music services. However, the rapidly evolving market requires us to proactively enhance our capabilities to meet future challenges and ensure the best outcomes for our rightholders”, says Risto Salminen, Teosto CEO.
Agreement with NMP terminated
As part of the Polaris collaboration, Network of Music Partners (NMP) has handled data administration, reporting, and invoicing for digital music services on behalf of the four rights organizations. NMP has carried out these tasks with great professionalism, for which the organizations are grateful. In connection with the discontinuation of Polaris Hub, the agreement will however also be concluded.
Will not affect royalty distributions
Although the Polaris Hub will be discontinued at the turn of the year, the licensing agreements entered into under the company will remain in effect until the expiry of their contract periods. The rightholders’ royalties will be collected and distributed in the ordinary manner by new partners.
For further information visit:
koda.dk,
teosto.fi
tono.no
Media contacts:
- Jonas Kleinschmidt, Head of press, Koda jkl@koda.dk, +45 28 68 75 60
- Vappu Aura, Director, Communications & PR, Teosto, vappu.aura@teosto.fi, +358 50 560 4450
- Willy Martinsen, Director of Communications, TONO, willy.martinsen@tono.no, +47 909 65 254