Alfa-TV left Syksyn Sävel artists licking their fingers in terms of TV appearance fees. The tax cards were asked, but the stars were not paid.
Alfa-TV channel announced earlier on Friday that it will stop its operations, as the channel’s background company has filed for bankruptcy in the district court of Itä-Uusimaa.
The background company’s board has stated that all capital has been lost and the company is insolvent.
Alfa-TV’s screen face Juha Veli Jokinen said on Friday in Helsingin Sanomat, how he had been without his wages since the summer of 2022. He’s not the only one left licking his fingers.
The artists of the Syksyn Sävel competition have also been left without their performance fees. Participated in the race Aki Samuli revealed on Facebook that Alfa-TV has not paid the agreed compensation for TV appearances.
Iltalehti reached out to Aki Samuli to comment on the matter.
– Yes, it itches. No one has received the agreed fees, he reports.
The rules of the Fall Sävel competition state that “persons participating in the performance will be paid a TV fee according to the tariff between Yle and the Musicians’ Union.” According to Iltalehti’s information, it is about a few hundred.
However, according to Aki Samuli, it’s not about money, but about principle. About the artist losing out on doing his own work.
– I felt bad for all the artists who have used their time to make entertainment for the TV channel in the belief that they will be paid the appropriate compensation that was promised and negotiated.
– I would hope that with the bankruptcy, this dubious activity within the production would be looked at a little more closely.. someone is badly in trouble. Really unprofessional behavior towards the entire music industry again. An industry that has already forgiven too much. My team of five paid all the expenses out of their own pocket while making this entertainment so that others can earn. Properly? She writes in her emotional update on Facebook.
Other artists have also shared and commented on the update.
“A winner is a loser!”
Tauski was left with a bone in his hand from Syksyn Sävele. ESA PESONEN
Tauski Peltonen went with Syksyn Sävele when asked, but now he regrets the whole thing.
– I said yes, even though I should have refused. I’m not surprised that the channel goes bankrupt when the programs are made carelessly, he says to Iltalehte.
– It is a great loss that Alfa-TV was lost, but it was lost because an unprofessional team was running it. I have nothing against the Alfa TV channel itself.
He appreciates the channel’s religious values and the way Alfa-TV brought domestic pop music and artists from that field to the fore.
Going to Sävele in the fall turned into a minor success. Tauski considered the race to be his last swan song and thought it was the icing on the cake of his career.
That’s how the singer bet financially, because he really wanted to win.
– I just like you 5,000 euros were spent on the production costs of the song, and 15,000 euros were not received from gigs when I was caught up in the TV show for two weekends. So if I didn’t get 180 euros from Alfa-TV, it doesn’t weigh anything in that sack.
Disappointment left a toothache in addition to financial losses.
– The level of the Autumn Sävel program was weak. Me and Tero Vaara we were the only ones who sang live on the spot, the others sang as playback, he claims and says that he doubted whether the winner was chosen by public vote or by a judge’s game.
– Tauski does talk shit. Everyone sang live. It’s all within the rules, says Aki Samuli.
Kurre Westerlund and Leif Lindeman, who were also interviewed for the story, say that they performed their songs live.
Tauski says that in the end he made more Spotify revenue with his song than the actual winner of the competition, Leif Lindeman.
– For the first time, the winner is the loser! Lindeman has netted 50 euros from this, I 300, he updates.
However, he adds that he does not want to belittle or insult Lindeman, who won the race. According to Tauski, the winner today does not benefit from the competition in the same way as Sammy Babitz, Mikko Alatalo or Irwin Goodman did in the piston years. He himself says that he benefited from the 1994 “Syksyn sävel” publicity, when the song “Only you” became a hit.
– It is not the artist’s fault if the program does not bring the same interest as in past decades. Leif is a top artist and I appreciate him, Tauski praises.
“It didn’t quite go well”
Leif Lindeman is happy about the TV visibility. Antti Nikkanen
Contest winner Leif Lindeman says that he hasn’t received a penny from his TV appearances.
– You had to get a reward according to Yle’s standards, several hundreds of euros. We canceled two Saturday gigs because of the competition, and Saturdays are famously the most profitable days in the dance genre. At least I got visibility myself. Yes, the employee has earned his salary, it didn’t go quite right, Lindeman commented to Iltalehte.
– I felt sorry for the musicians the most. On two nights I performed with four men, while the winner’s concert was with six men.
Alfa-TV’s staff had asked Lindeman and his musicians for tax cards in October, but there was no reward.
Lindeman regrets the termination of the channel, especially because it has offered a rare avenue for TV spotlighting dance music.
– It was the only channel where our genre was featured. I am grateful for the years I was able to do together with Alfa-TV. There were over 600,000 viewers in the finale of Syksy säveli, it was the second most watched program in the channel’s history, he says.
One thing surprises Lindeman.
– When 50,000 people voted for the winner and it becomes a euro per vote, it would have easily paid the artists’ expenses. But maybe there were a few bills in the stack. I understand them too if there is no ability to pay.
Lindeman does not sign Tauski’s provocative statement about the “winner’s loss”. Your heart is still gold -song became a success among the dance audience.
– It’s not quite the reality, because radio plays also make a difference. It’s not a new thing that dance music doesn’t play well on Spotify. My song was number one on Pook’s chart for five weeks. I don’t feel like I lost in any respect!
“I completely forgot about it”
Kurre Westerlund feels sympathy for the people of Alfa-TV. MIKKO HUISKO
Also participated in the competition Kurre Westerlund says that he became sad after reading about the termination of Alfa-TV.
– That bankruptcy is an incredible shame. Alfa-TV brought domestic entertainment and music programs in its own style. It was an advocate of domestic entertainment and cause, and it will be missed, he says from his trip to London.
He remembers having previously heard a discussion about artists’ performance fees. However, Kurre does not consider the losses to be big, and has not thought about it from that angle.
– Sometimes there are programs for which you don’t get any reward. So I completely forgot about it. Going with me was an honor. There is nothing bad to say about how things were handled. Alfa-TV carried out the filming in style and there was a damn good spirit on the spot.
Kurre does not agree with Tauski’s opinion about unprofessional TV production. On the contrary, he praises the people of Alfa-TV.
– A lot of people are now out of work, and I’m really sorry for them. We should think about them now, and not if we have missed a hundred. Just the other day, there was an announcement about Alfa-TV’s bankruptcy, when I had published the English version of my song “Syksyn Sävel” on the very same day Let Me Breathe The Air You Breathehe says cheerfully.