Tone Østerdal Named CEO Of Norway’s Promoters Association NKA

Norway’s promoters’ association Norske Konsertarrangører hired Tone Østerdal as new CEO, effective Aug. 1.

– Tone Østerdal
The new CEO of Norway

Østerdal has been working in the fields of arts and culture for the past 15 years, and was head of culture of the Buskerud and Akershus county municipality. Prior to that she was chairman of nyMusikk, Norway’s centre for experimental music and sound art, a position she is going to keep.

Østerdal holds a bachelor’s degree in cultural management at the University College of Southeast Norway. She’s been a deputy member on the board of NKA since 2015.

Østerdal said that of all the cultural fields she’s been working in, music was closest to her heart. “I’m proud and happy to get this opportunity,” she commented on her new role.

The NKA has grown in recent years and represents some 340 concert organizers from Norway today. The association’s chairman of the board, Jon Gotteberg, said he was “proud and pleased” that Østerdal accepted the job offer. 

“Tone has a combination of personal qualities, managerial experience and strategic skills, which make her very suitable for this job,” Gotteberg added.

It’s hard to come by current figures for the Norwegian live music market. The latest figures are from 2015, when the country’s live music income was NOK 1.9 billion (about $227.9 million) – a four percent increase compared to the year before.

NKA did not publish a dedicated report on 2016, but still took a look at business that year as part of another survey. It states that a total of 7,100 concerts and music events were reported in 2016, visited by around one and a half million people.

While rock and pop promoters make up roughly a quarter of the country’s promoters, they were responsible for attracting almost half the audience (some 700,000).

The survey looks at festivals separately. It mentions, however, that a lot of promoters didn’t respond, which is why the figures only have limited meaning and aren’t comparable to 2014/2015.

Update: The original article did not state that Østerdal remains chairman of nyMusikk while taking up her new role at NKA. This has now been clarified.