Universal drops the Spellemannprisen – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

Director Bjørn Rogstad at Universal’s Norwegian office says in a press release that the record company will not participate in this year’s Spellemannpris. Last week it emerged that the Spellemannprisen is leaving news in favor of a collaboration with Nettavisen, Amedia, Pepsi – and TikTok. The new collaboration has led to several reactions from the music industry. – Those who want to recognize artists and songwriters must do so by respecting them, not by actively working towards replacing them with artificial intelligence or by paying them obscenely little, says Rogstad in the press release. Universal is Norway’s largest record company and Rogstad himself previously sat on the Spellemann committee. – Undermines artists Universal chose to pull all their music from TikTok on January 30 this year. In an open letter, Universal wrote that TikTok will only pay a fraction of what other social media pay for music. – This is the reason why we can never stop fighting for fair treatment of artists and songwriters. This is the reason why we withdrew the license with TikTok. This is the reason why we have decided not to participate in this year’s Spellemannpris. Director Bjørn Rogstad in Universal Norway. Photo: Wikimedia: Kjetil Ree news has been in contact with Universal, who say that none of their employees will attend the award ceremony this year. But Universal puts no restrictions on the artists signed to them. – We do not want to be present at events sponsored by actors who actively undermine artists and the work they do. We are proud of all our nominees and look forward to watching from the sidelines. They deserve all the attention, honor and glory they can get, says the press release. Spellemann: – Too bad Chairman Erlend Gjerde says that Spellemann has not received cancellations from artists in the wake of the Universal boycott. Among the Universal artists nominated for this year’s Spellemann are Alessandra, Undergrunn and Dagny. Spellemann has collaborated with TikTok since last year. – Spellemann has chosen to continue the collaboration with TikTok on the same terms as for last year’s Spellemann. We think it is a shame that Universal will not be present at this year’s awards, but we respect their position, writes Gjerde in an SMS to news.



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