Teosto, the copyright society for composers, lyricists, arrangers and music publishers in Finland, acknowledges ten Finnish music creators with the first Global Breakthrough honorary awards. This new award aims to highlight Finnish music creators who are building an international career and gaining success outside Finland.

Teosto's Global Breakthrough award is based on measurable results. It will be granted annually to music creators who earn significant royalties from international markets and demonstrate a strong growth in international royalties over the past three years.

With this new award, Teosto wants to increase the visibility and recognition of music creators succeeding internationally and encourage new creators to pursue opportunities beyond Finland. Supporting international growth has been a key focus for Teosto in recent years. Last year, foreign royalties distributed to Teosto members increased by 14 per cent.

Ten creators at the forefront of Finnish music exports

Recipients of the first Teosto Global Breakthrough awards:

• Aleksi Kiiskinen: songwriter and producer, known especially as the main producer for the British artist James Marriott. His productions have over 200 million streams outside Finland. He also releases electronic dance music under the name Psylla, with works synced in international advertising campaigns.
  
  
• Olli-Pekka Lankinen (Obi Blanche): experimental guitarist, producer, and composer with a unique, distinctive approach to the guitar and electronic music. The song Love, Disorderly by Lankinen and Thomas Azier is featured in the globally distributed movie The Equalizer 3.
  
  
• Johannes Naukkarinen (KIRO): The Eurovision Song Contest entries Cha Cha Cha and Espresso Macchiato established Naukkarinen as an internationally recognised songwriter. Contributions in the productions of Käärijä, Tommy Cash and Joost have only marked the beginning of his international career.
  
  
• Jere Pöyhönen (Käärijä): Cha Cha Cha became a worldwide phenomenon and is the most streamed song performed in Finnish of all time. Even after the Eurovision Song Contest hype, Käärijä has continued touring international stages.
  
  
• Aleksi Nurmi: producer and songwriter working mainly with Käärijä, also as a member of his live crew. With strong roots in rap and electronic music, Nurmi’s input can be heard in many of Käärijä’s songs.
  
  
• Jussi Roine: gained international visibility and attention through the collaboration with Windows95man in the Eurovision Song Contest. Roine is also the CEO of the live music company All Day Agency and a member of the surf rock band Mary Ann Hawkins.
  
  
• Eeli Savolainen: long-lasting collaboration with the British artist James Marriott has resulted in nearly 200 million streams and the number one spot on the British album list. A talented drummer and recording engineer, Savolainen also performs regularly on Finnish stages.
  
  
• Julia Sundberg: music creator with works published in Finland, Japan, China, Poland and Estonia. Her songs have been recorded by TWICE and BLANKA, among others. BLANKA’s Solo was Poland’s entry in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. Sundberg’s works have also been synced to Netflix and HBO series.
  
  
• Petja Virikko: Composer of TV, movie and game music, recognised, for example, for the music of the German TV series Die Zweiflers. His music has been awarded at the Cannes TV series festival and by the German Television Academy.
  
  
• Tuomas Wäinölä: composer, producer and guitarist, creator of the music for the Sisu movies and The Flying Finns documentaries, among others. Wäinölä is currently working on his first electric guitar concerto and creating music for the Hollywood movie John Rambo together with Juri Seppä.