What to look out for when buying background music
Quotes for background music are hard to compare, because they include and exclude different things. Below is where the difference sits, what always gets added on top, and who supplies it in the Netherlands.
Four questions that straighten out the picture
Ask these four before you sign. They remove most of what makes quotes incomparable.
Does the amount include the Buma/Stemra and Sena levies?
Usually not. Some providers handle the registration for you, but the bill stays yours. Ask for a figure that includes it, otherwise you are comparing different things.
Is the price per location or per account?
With several sites this diverges quickly. The levies are per location in any case, even where the subscription is not.
How long are you tied in?
Annual contracts with automatic renewal are common in this market. Ask about the notice period before you sign.
Can you steer each site separately?
One playlist for every branch is a different thing from each location having its own mood, its own promotions and its own opening hours.
Why there are always two bills
The first question above is the important one, and most business owners only find out when the letter arrives. Anyone playing music by human authors in a business space pays twice.
Once to the provider for the subscription. And once to Buma/Stemra and Sena for the rights, because that music has a composer, a lyricist, a performing artist and a record label behind it. That second bill is separate from your provider and lands directly with you.
This is not a criticism of those providers. It is how the system works, and they cannot change it. But it does explain how a quote of fifty euros a month can turn out to be double that in practice.
See what those levies costWho supplies it in the Netherlands
Buma/Stemra keeps its own list of suppliers of background music for businesses and institutions. The fact that the list sits with them and not somewhere else says enough about the point above.
- A Music Momentamusicmoment.com
- Beatbeat.dk
- Multimusicmultimusic.nl
- Gallery Play Mediagalleryplaymedia.com
- Horeca Soundhorecasound.nl
- Image Soundimagesound.com
- InnControlinncontrol.nl
- Kollekt FMkollekt.fm
- Notice Branded Medianoticebrandedmedia.com
- PB Soundpbsound.nl
- Play Musicplaymusic.nl
- Soundtrack Your Brandsoundtrackyourbrand.com
- Synerplaysynerplay.nl
- BCM Musicbcmmusic.nl
- DDJ Mediaevents.nl
- DJ-Maticdj-matic.nl
- MediaToolsmediatools.nl
The document is from March 2023. Since then providers may have stopped, been acquired or been added. Check with Buma/Stemra whether a more recent version exists. We do not describe or rank them, because we do not have that knowledge.
Where RadioMatic differs
Our music is generated entirely by AI. There is no composer and no lyricist, so there is no copyright for Buma/Stemra to collect on. There is no performing artist and no commercially released phonogram, so there is no neighbouring right for Sena to collect on.
So the difference is not in the price of the subscription. We may come out cheaper or dearer than another provider, depending on your situation. The difference is in that second bill, which with us does not exist.
That is also why we are not on the Buma/Stemra list, and that is not an oversight.
Read the legal reasoningHear the difference yourself
We can write a hundred times that it sounds good, but that judgement is yours. Fourteen days free trial, cancel monthly after that.
This page names the providers as they appear on the Buma/Stemra list and makes no further claims about their services, prices or terms. If you want to know what one of them costs or offers, ask them. The only comparison we draw concerns the levies, and that follows from the law rather than from any offer.