How much Buma/Stemra and Sena discount does your trade association give?
Updated
The short answer Your trade association gives a 14 to 20% discount on Buma/Stemra and Sena, which for a small business comes to a few dozen euros a year. The membership itself costs several hundred euros a year. Joining only for the discount almost never pays.
How it does get cheaper Everyone already gets the biggest discount without any membership, up to 33.33% for registering yourself and paying on time. If you want to be rid of the bill altogether, the only way is music that needs no Buma and Sena payment, such as music made entirely by AI. With RadioMatic that costs from € 29.99 a month, and you pay nothing to Buma/Stemra and Sena.
Better no bill than a discount on the bill
- A station of your own. The best music in your business every day, and the station remembers your hits.
- We handle your switch. After your trial we cancel Buma/Stemra, Sena and your old music service for you, free of charge. How the switching service works.
- Just atmosphere music, or a complete business radio. With a presenter who talks about your business between the songs, if you want, and with Professional also news and your own adverts.
- Works on what is already there. Sonos, Chromecast, a browser or the line-in of your amplifier.
- 14 days free. A reply within one working day and live in under ten minutes.
From € 29.99 per location per month. What you now pay Buma/Stemra and Sena goes, and so does your current music subscription.
How much discount does each trade association give?
Hospitality with KHN An extra 17% on Buma. KHN also arranges Sena, but states no separate percentage for it. If you joined after 27 January 2026, you can only take part this year with a new hospitality business that has not yet had an application, an inspector or an invoice from Buma or Sena.
Hairdressers with ANKO 15% on Buma and 14.5% on Sena.
Chinese and Asian hospitality with VCHO 17% on Buma and 14.5% on Sena.
Shops with INretail or NSO Retail 14% on Buma/Stemra and 16% on Sena.
Independent retailers with Vakcentrum 15% on both.
Technical firms with Techniek Nederland 15 to 20%.
Why there is a discount Such an association has a collective licence agreement, and the licences of all members are handled in one go. That saves administration, and that is what makes the discount possible. Sena explains this in its 2026 tariff overview. All of these pages are in Dutch.
Does it come on top of the 33.33% discount?
Yes. You get the big discount without any membership. Buma/Stemra and Sena give up to 33.33% to anyone who registers of their own accord and pays on time. If you only register once they contact you, or you pay late, that discount falls away. How that works is on A fine from Buma/Stemra?
The trade association discount comes on top of that, and is calculated on the amount that has already been reduced. An example from ANKO: a salon with 3 to 10 staff pays € 189.70 for Buma, and 15% comes off that. That saves € 28.46 a year.
Work out below what your own business pays without a sector scheme.
Do you earn the membership back?
Against the discount stands the membership fee, and that is much higher. Joining costs between € 375 and € 915 a year at most trade associations. The amounts per association are in the sources below.
Put those figures next to the discount and the conclusion is simple. For a small business, the Buma and Sena discount does not earn back the membership. A salon with 4 staff saves about € 48 a year through ANKO and pays € 915 in fees.
That does not make membership pointless. Trade associations do more than arrange discounts, and for a chain with a lot of square metres the saving does add up. But if you join only for the Buma and Sena discount, you are fooling yourself.
What should you watch out for?
The schemes come with conditions. With KHN and Vakcentrum you pay by direct debit. You also cannot sign up at any time you like. KHN writes that joining mid-year is not possible unless you are about to open. What you tell ANKO before 1 November counts for the following year’s invoice. With Vakcentrum you register before 15 November.
If you are in a collective scheme, the invoice comes from the trade association rather than from Mijnlicentie. ANKO writes that registered members are invoiced through ANKO and everyone else gets the joint Buma/Stemra and Sena invoice. With VCHO and Vakcentrum the discount ends when your membership ends. Vakcentrum refunds nothing if you stop halfway through the year.
Some associations also arrange a discount with Videma, the separate bill for TV pictures. KHN members get 12% on the Videma licence for cafés (Videma), and Techniek Nederland states 7%. When you need Videma is explained on Radio or TV on in your business.
Sources: the member pages of KHN, ANKO, INretail, NSO Retail, VCHO, Vakcentrum and Techniek Nederland, the membership fee pages of KHN, INretail, NSO Retail and VCHO, Sena’s 2026 tariff overview and the Buma/Stemra tariffs, all in Dutch. Consulted on 22 September 2026. The percentages can change each year. Ask your trade association for the current figure. Also used bumastemra.nl, videma.nl, ECLI:NL:RBGEL:2025:6175.
Work out what you save
Three questions, and you see what you now spend on Buma/Stemra, Sena and your music service.
What kind of business do you have?
What RadioMatic does differently here
A trade association can make the Buma/Stemra and Sena bill smaller. It cannot make it go away. As long as you play music by human makers, that bill stays.
At RadioMatic the music is generated entirely by AI. Buma/Stemra itself says that works made entirely by AI without a human creative contribution do not qualify for copyright or payment. The same applies to Sena. Sena can only collect for a recording that has been commercially released, and on that ground Sena lost in court in 2025. The full reasoning is in our legal memorandum. You pay one amount per location per month, from € 29.99, and you can try it free for 14 days. See pricing.
Read the legal reasoningWhy RadioMatic is something other than a playlist or the radio
A business owner who wants music on the premises usually picks from three things. A playlist from a streaming service, an ordinary radio station, or a royalty-free music package. This is where they differ.
| Playlist | Ordinary radio | Royalty-free | RadioMatic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New music | Fixed list | Yes, but not your choice | Limited catalogue | New every day |
| Music that is yours alone | No | No | No | Yes, your own hits |
| Fits the time of day | Switch it yourself | No | Switch it yourself | Automatic |
| Names your business | No | No | No | Yes |
| Your own offers | No | Only if you buy advertising | No | Yes, with Professional, no studio |
| Local news and weather | No | Yes, the station’s | No | Yes, with Professional, your town |
| Other people’s adverts | No | Yes | No | No |
| Several locations | Set up per location | No | Set up per location | Yes, from one place, each with its own mood |
| Buma/Stemra and Sena | Payable | Payable | See the terms | Not payable |
Questions about trade association discounts
Further reading
- Paying too much to Buma/Stemra and Sena? Get your invoice checked for freeUpload your invoice or letter from Mijnlicentie and we check it.
- What is the difference between Buma, Stemra and Sena?Three names, two bills, and what you pay to whom.
- Music without Buma and Sena. Is it possible?Which routes exist, what they really cost, and which one holds up.
- Received a letter from Mijnlicentie? These are your options.What that letter is, what your options are, and why ignoring it costs most.
Ready to hear it for yourself?
Try RadioMatic free for 14 days. Your own station for your business, without Buma/Stemra and Sena, and cancel monthly if you pay monthly.
Rather talk first? Book a 15-minute call