Gramex Finland

What Gramex Finland does

Gramex Finland is a non-profit collective management organization (CMO) founded in 1967 and headquartered in Musiikin Satama, Espoo. It administers neighboring rights on behalf of performers and phonogram producers in Finland, collecting royalties for the public performance and broadcast of recorded music and distributing compensation to rights holders. As the designated CMO for sound recordings under the Finnish Copyright Act, Gramex holds an effective monopoly in its domestic market and serves a broad licensee base of 69,158 active customer contracts, including broadcasters, streaming platforms, live event organizers, and commercial music users.

Gramex operates a centralized rights and royalty distribution platform built around a database of 1.4 million recordings with ISNI integration. The platform processes usage data from domestic licensees and from over 50 reciprocal international collection society partners, enabling cross-border royalty collection and distribution. In 2025, the organization reported 19,282 phonograms and €27.51 million in compensation collected. The technology stack supports both traditional annual royalty distribution cycles and, as of 2025, a real-time payment capability described as a world-first for the sector.

Gramex generates revenue primarily by retaining an administrative percentage of collected royalties before distributing the remainder to rights holders. The 2024–2026 strategy period emphasizes product expansion — including the AV Music joint service with Teosto (launched November 2023) for audiovisual production licensing — international network growth (notably the FKMP Korea agreement in 2025), and operational modernization. The organization is led by CEO Ilmo Laevuo with Tuija Brax serving as Board Chair.

Name

Gramex Finland

Legal name

Gramex äänitemusiikin tekijänoikeusjärjestö ry

Website

https://gramex.fi

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Gramex Finland is a non-profit collective management organization founded in 1967 that collects and distributes sound recording royalties on behalf of performers and producers in Finland. It holds statutory monopoly status under Finnish copyright law and manages 1.4 million recordings for 69,158 licensee contracts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Collective Rights Management

NAICS

Other Sound Recording Industries (512290)

akta.pro primary industry

Mechanical Rights Collection & Licensing (MROs/CMOs) (MPAIAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Royalty Accounting & Payment Services (Statements, Audits, Payee Management) (MPAIABAL), Global Rights Representation & Sub-Publishing/Reciprocal Collection Services (MPAIAKAI)

Keywords

• Music rights management
• Royalty collection services
• Sound recording licensing
• Collective rights management
• Phonogram licensing

Headquarters

HQ city

Vantaa

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Music licensing fees: Gramex collects fees from businesses and organizations that use recorded music (radio/TV broadcasters, AV productions, event organizers, background music operators, etc.). These are statutory or contract-based fees for public performance, broadcast, or reproduction of sound recordings. Fees are collected quarterly and distributed as royalties to performers and producers after administrative deductions.
2. International royalty collection and distribution: Gramex collects royalties from foreign countries through reciprocal agreements with over 30 international collection societies. Foreign societies send royalties collected for Finnish music used abroad, which Gramex distributes to its Finnish customers. Conversely, Gramex receives foreign music usage data and remits royalties to foreign societies.
3. Private copying compensation: Gramex collects private copying compensation (hyvitysmaksu) distributed by NLC ( Kopiosto) and redistributes to Finnish performers and producers. This stream is funded by a levy on blank media and recording devices.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Gramex is Finland's collective management organization for sound recording rights, representing performers and producers of phonograms. It sells licenses to businesses and organizations that use recorded music (broadcasters, AV productions, event organizers, background music operators) and collects, then distributes quarterly, the resulting royalties to Finnish performers and producers. It also recovers royalties from over 30 international partner societies for Finnish music used abroad and operates the MyGramex self-service portal for rights holders.

Product overview

Gramex is a copyright collective for sound recordings (phonograms) representing performers and producers in Finland. The organization operates a portfolio of products and services centered on royalty collection and licensing. The core offering consists of MyGramex (customer portal for notifications and payment tracking), GramexShop (license purchasing), and AV Music (joint service with Teosto for audiovisual music licensing). Additional services include international royalty collection from over 30 countries, phonogram registration, and the GramexPress news platform. The organization collects and distributes compensation for the public performance, broadcasting, and reproduction of sound recordings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MyGramex customer portal Self-service portal where Finnish performers, producers, conductors and artists submit phonogram (recording) notifications, track music usage reports, update personal and bank details, view tax information from the Finnish Tax Administration, and monitor royalty payments. Available to Gramex's approximately 60,500 customer contracts.
• GramexShop music licensing web store Online store where businesses purchase licenses for the use of sound recordings and music videos, covering AV productions (TV programs, documentaries, short films), commercial and community radio, webcasting/internet radio, radio on demand and simulcasting, and background music in commercial premises. Detailed rate cards and contract templates are available.
• AV Music joint service Joint service by Gramex and Teosto that helps AV production companies (TV, film, documentary) find and license music from rights holders for audiovisual works. Provides a bridge between production companies and music rights holders, handling both sound recording (Gramex) and musical work (Teosto) licensing needs.
• International royalty collection and distribution Cross-border royalty collection service: Gramex collects royalties from foreign countries through reciprocal agreements with over 50 collection societies (including PPL UK, GVL Germany, SAMI Sweden, SoundExchange US, ADAMI/SPEDIDAM France, SCPP France, IFPI Sweden, Agedi Spain, and FKMP South Korea) for Finnish music used abroad, and distributes them to Finnish rights holders. Reciprocally remits royalties to foreign societies for music used in Finland.

Quantifiable outcome

• Collected 27.51 million EUR in 2025 for distribution to performers and producers
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and flagship.

• FKMP (Federation of Korean Music Performers)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 June 2025Gramex signed a reciprocal agreement with South Korea's FKMP. Going forward, Gramex collects royalties for Finnish musicians and producers for music used in South Korea. Reciprocally, Gramex pays royalties to FKMP-represented musicians for their music used in Finland.
• SCAPR (Societies' Council for the Collective Management of Performers' Rights)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGramex actively participates in SCAPR's meetings and working groups. SCAPR maintains international databases (IPD, VRDB2) that Gramex uses for cross-border rights holder identification and royalty distribution.
• IFPI (Performer Rights Committee)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGramex participates in IFPI's Performer Rights Committee meetings, contributing to international policy development for performer rights in recorded music.
• Aepo Artis (European performers' rights organizations)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGramex is a member of Aepo Artis, the European umbrella organization for performers' rights collection societies, contributing to policy and standards development at the European level.
• Music FinlandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMusic Finland promotes Finnish music exports and internationalization. Gramex collaborates with Music Finland on industry initiatives, advocacy campaigns, and international promotion of Finnish music.
• GT Musiikkiluvat Oy (jointly with Teosto)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGT Musiikkiluvat Oy is jointly owned by Gramex and Teosto. It handles customer service for public performance licensing of sound recordings and other music usage licensing tasks on behalf of Gramex. It operates the musiikkiluvat.fi portal for background music licenses.
• JVG (Jare & VilleGalle)flagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerGramex and JVG launched the 'Musiikin arvo' (Value of Music) campaign in October 2025. JVG created a unique vinyl record for the campaign, with proceeds donated to Rock Camp ry. The campaign raises public awareness of music's value and creator compensation.
• Rock Camp ryminorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe proceeds from Gramex's Musiikin arvo campaign vinyl sale are donated in full to Rock Camp ry, which provides bullying-free band activities for young people across Finland.
• AV Music (Gramex + Teosto joint service)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAV Music is a two-year pilot joint service by Gramex and Teosto that connects AV productions with music rights holders. It helps production companies identify and license music for TV shows, films, and documentaries. The service has served over 100 AV productions in its first six months.
• TeostoflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerGramex and Teosto are the two Finnish collective management organizations covering different rights: Gramex for sound recordings (performers and producers), Teosto for musical works (composers, lyricists). They cooperate on AV Music, GT Musiikkiluvat Oy, joint advocacy, and combined licensing for events.
• International collection societies (PPL, GVL, SAMI, SoundExchange, etc.)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGramex has bilateral reciprocal agreements with over 50 collection societies worldwide (e.g., PPL UK, GVL Germany, SAMI Sweden, SoundExchange US, ADAMI France, SPEDIDAM France) enabling cross-border royalty collection for both performers and producers.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Teosto: Finnish collective management organization for composers and lyricists (musical works/songwriter rights), operating as Gramex's direct complement in Finland. Joint operator of AV Music and GT Musiikkiluvat with Gramex, and the most natural comparator by geography and business model (CMO).
• PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited): UK collective management organization collecting and distributing royalties to performers and recording rightsholders for the use of recorded music — same neighbouring-rights mandate as Gramex, just in the UK market.
• SoundExchange: US non-profit performance rights organization for sound recordings, collecting digital performance royalties for performers and labels and distributing them as Gramex does for Finland — the closest international analogue.
• STIM (Svenska Tonsättares Internationella Musikbyrå): Swedish CMO for musical works (composers, songwriters, lyricists) — operates in the same Nordic market with the same CMO model as Gramex but on the composer/works side, mirroring the Teosto relationship to Gramex in Sweden.
• GVL (Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten): German collective management organization for neighbouring rights (performers and producers), operating with the same regulatory/statutory licensing framework as Gramex in Germany.
• SCPP (Société Civile des Producteurs Phonographiques): French CMO representing record producers (phonogram producers' rights) — directly comparable in mandate (producer neighbouring rights) and in the broader European sound-recording ecosystem.
• SAMI (Svenska Artisters och Musikers Intresseorganisation): Swedish CMO representing performers and producers for sound recordings — closest Nordic neighbour-rights peer, comparable by mandate and market profile.
• ADAMI: French CMO for performers' neighbouring rights, collecting and distributing royalties to performers — the French performer-side counterpart in the same dual-role (performer/producer) framework as Gramex.

Others

• SCAPR (Societies' Council for the Collective Management of Performers' Rights): International umbrella body for performer CMOs of which Gramex is a member; maintains the IPD, VRDB2 and RDx cross-border databases that Gramex relies on. Enabling/standards-setting peer rather than direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• IFPI: International federation of the phonographic industry that coordinates national record industry associations (including IFPI Finland, which co-governs Gramex). Operates at a global level with broader scope than Gramex but directly shapes its international policy environment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gramex-ry

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gramex Finland