"When the value of music is challenged, we must drive development"
2025 became the year when AI seriously changed the playing field in the music industry. From being an experimental tool, AI is now an integrated part of how music is created, distributed and consumed. Development is moving fast – and in several directions at once. For Stim, it's now about continuing to be relevant in a rapidly changing music economy.
Ensuring that copyright is converted into actual compensation and that the economic value of music is not eroded is at the core of Stim's mission. Rights revenue in 2025 amounted to SEK 3.1 billion, of which domestic licenses reached a record level of over SEK 1 billion.
A total of SEK 2.7 billion was distributed back to rightsholders. That is a show of strength. But also a reminder that future value creation must be won – not managed.
Stim's Chair Carina Brorman and CEO Fredrik Tumegård reflect on the past year and look ahead.
How was the year shaped by the leadership change and how has Stim delivered in a challenging time?
Carina Brorman:
The past year became special as our former CEO Casper Bjørner was absent due to illness. During this period we had an interim leadership, and from November Fredrik Tumegård assumed the role of CEO with a contract throughout 2026.
The board and Casper have been in close dialogue, and in early 2026 we jointly decided that Casper will leave Stim in connection with the annual general meeting. Until then he has a limited assignment supporting Fredrik in certain important development projects.
Despite a year marked by uncertainty, change and challenges, our core delivery — collecting rights revenue and ensuring payouts to our members — has functioned stably. Stim is a robust organization with employees who stand firm even in turbulent times.
It is an impressive strength in competence and experience, with great commitment to ensuring that everything works so that our members receive the compensation they are entitled to. I feel great pride and gratitude for all employees' efforts during 2025.
Fredrik Tumegård:
I took over as CEO in late fall, at a point that demanded both stability and continued development. I have previously worked at the intersection of technology, business and transformation, often in environments where data-driven models and new technologies rapidly change how value is created. I bring that perspective to Stim.
For me, the focus is clear: member services, market and IT/tech, the core of our operations. How we generate revenue, how we ensure quality in our "factory", and ultimately how we create real economic value for our members.
In a global and digital music economy, where platforms, data and collaborations like ICE are decisive, everything we do needs to be based on a simple principle: strengthen members' opportunities to create, reach audiences and receive the right compensation. This is where technology, business and our mission meet.
What has Stim delivered during 2025 – in results and development?
Fredrik Tumegård:
During 2025 Stim has continued to deliver strong results, both nationally and internationally. The Swedish market passed SEK 1 billion in rights revenue, a record result. We had a strong year for live, but also worked more systematically with pricing, customer relations and market coverage.
Internationally our revenue streams were strengthened through renegotiated contracts, which among other things resulted in increased payments from the USA. At the same time we laid the foundation for the next step through extensive work to develop our future service portfolio and further strengthen revenue both nationally and internationally.
At the start of 2025 ICE launched the platform CUBE, developed to handle the entire copyright process on the global online market. Simply put, CUBE is the engine for how music rights are managed, from reported usage to correct compensation to the appropriate rightsholders.
Simultaneously we have had challenges reaching full system stability, which has affected our members. During certain times some functions on My pages have not been available and queues to member services have increased. We take this very seriously. With significant efforts from both Stim and ICE we now see a clear improvement. The situation has also accelerated the development of increased self-service for our members.
ICE is a unique multi-territorial hub for copyright processes and online licensing. In 2025 ICE licensed and administered rights revenue of approximately €1.2 billion and has since inception distributed over €6.5 billion to rightsholders. With one of the world's most extensive music rights databases, ICE constitutes a unique part of the infrastructure in the global music economy.
For Stim, together with GEMA and PRS, ICE is therefore not only an operational platform but a strategic asset and an important position in an increasingly competitive and transformative market.
Carina Brorman:
A groundbreaking event during the year was when Stim, as one of the first music societies in the world, launched a model for AI licensing. The initiative has helped clarify how copyright can be applied in a new technological reality and strengthened our position as a leading player on the issue.
At the same time we have been active in the Nordic collaboration to establish a joint position on how AI should be handled in music creation. Ultimately it is about ensuring compensation and rights across the entire value chain, from training data to generation and on to distribution and revenue. For our members we see both opportunities and uncertainties, and it is within that balance that we must act.
Development is moving quickly, but our starting point is clear: technology should enable development while the value of human creation should be respected and compensated. That is precisely why copyright is so central. During the year we have seen important legal and regulatory developments internationally confirming that the fundamental principles of copyright are central also in relation to AI, even though the legal situation is still evolving.
Fredrik Tumegård and Carina Brorman
How do you view music creators' prospects going forward – and what role does Stim have in strengthening them?
Carina Brorman:
We are in a situation where many music creators experience increased uncertainty. Revenue streams are changing, the competition for attention is increasing and in a persistently weak economic climate it is difficult for many to create long-term sustainable income from their music. This is not only an individual challenge, it is a systemic issue.
We also see that Sweden's position as a music nation is under pressure. The Swedish music miracle is built on a strong ecosystem, from education and renewal to professional structures and international reach. But it is not something we can take for granted. It requires long-term investments, clear priorities and shared responsibility.
Fredrik Tumegård:
For Stim, this means we need to be clear about how we create value for our members, both in the present and in the future.
We will continue to be strong in our core delivery, but also develop how we contribute to members' opportunities to grow. This involves, among other things, better transparency, more relevant services and making it easier to understand and influence own earnings.
Additionally, we need to look at the whole. In a market that is changing rapidly it is no longer enough to optimize what already exists, we also need to help develop the conditions for the music creation of the future.
Carina Brorman:
It is from this perspective that music promotion becomes strategic.
We are now taking a coordinated approach within the Stim-sphere (SKAP, FST, Musikförläggarna and Stim) to set a clear direction, not to do more, but to create greater value, for more people and over time. This work is based on our members' realities and needs, and is developed in dialogue with them.
By gathering our efforts, clarifying priorities and starting from where we actually make a difference, we strengthen both member benefits at the moment and the conditions for the next generation of music creators.
The music promotion work is under development and will be made more visible and concrete during 2026.
Fredrik Tumegård:
In the end it's all about one thing: that every member should be able to see, understand and influence how their music creates value – and be fairly paid for it, over time. This is the direction we are pursuing, and this is where Stim needs to be the strongest going forward.