The influential joint venture known as Polaris Hub, formed in 2019 by Nordic collective management organizations Koda (Denmark), Teosto (Finland), and Tono (Norway), will cease operations in late 2025 after seven years of coordinating digital music licensing across the region.
The collaboration, which negotiated agreements with major platforms including Spotify, YouTube, Meta, and TikTok, is being discontinued as the global music industry evolves toward a more competitive, scale-driven environment.
The Nordic licensing powerhouse faces dissolution as the industry gravitates toward global scale economics over regional cooperation.
Polaris Hub had streamlined licensing processes by providing centralized management for data administration, reporting, and invoicing on behalf of its members.
The joint venture enhanced the negotiating power of these Nordic organizations by pooling rights and simplifying dealings with global digital services, despite representing relatively small markets individually.
According to the CMOs behind Polaris Hub, the decision reflects a strategic reassessment of regional licensing approaches.
The increasingly complex music ecosystem has revealed limitations in Nordic-scale cooperation, with the hub no longer aligning with current market demands and member organizations’ strategic needs.
This signals potential challenges in maintaining regional alliances amid global scale pressures.
The wind down process has been carefully structured with a phased approach that will conclude around the turn of 2025-2026.
Existing licensing agreements negotiated under Polaris Hub will remain valid until their contract expiry dates, with royalties continuing to be collected and distributed by new partners appointed by the individual CMOs.
Agreements with Network of Music Partners for administration and reporting services will also terminate alongside Polaris Hub’s discontinuation.
Each CMO will now focus on forming stronger alliances beyond the Nordic region to better address emerging market demands and developments.
Recent market insights from the Nordic region reveal high engagement with digital music services, with 95% of 12-65 year-olds using streaming platforms.
Similar to other performance rights organizations, these Nordic CMOs are responsible for collecting and distributing royalties for public performances of copyrighted music on behalf of composers and publishers.
As the organizations transition, they’ll need to develop new promotional strategies to maintain visibility and leverage in negotiations with streaming giants.
Spotify leads with 62% user share, while TikTok emerges as a rapidly growing platform for music discovery, now utilized by 9% of users for finding new songs.
The dissolution of this pioneering regional alliance raises questions about the viability of similar cooperative models in the digital music landscape, where global scale increasingly dictates negotiating power against tech giants dominating the streaming ecosystem.
