Christmas and New Year music in your shop, what is allowed and what does it cost?
Updated
The short answer Christmas music in your shop is allowed, and so is music for New Year, but you generally pay Buma/Stemra and Sena for it, even if the song is a hundred years old. A Spotify playlist is not allowed in a business.
Why old songs are not free The melody of Silent Night is free. Every recording, though, has a singer and a record company, and Sena collects for them. For well-known songs like Last Christmas you pay Buma/Stemra as well. If you play music all year, Christmas falls under your normal licence. What that costs for your shop, you work out below.
With RadioMatic You run your own holiday station from December into January. Only for those weeks? You can. Then you cancel monthly and pay 20% more. You pay nothing to Buma and Sena, because the music is made entirely with AI.
Work out what music in your shop costs now
Three questions, and you see what you now spend on Buma/Stemra, Sena and your music service.
How big is your business?
Your own station for Christmas and New Year
- Christmas music that suits your business. From warm and acoustic to cheerful and festive, and your Christmas hits come round more often.
- Then on to New Year. After Christmas you switch your station to a festive New Year mood, and back again in January.
- Your own messages in between. Sunday openings, holiday opening hours and your offers, read by a presenter who talks about your business between the songs. That comes with Professional.
- 14 days free. A reply within one working day and live in under ten minutes, on the speakers already there.
From € 29.99 per location per month. For ordinary Christmas music you also pay Buma/Stemra and Sena. With RadioMatic you do not.
Aren't old Christmas songs simply free?
The melody and lyrics of many carols are free. Copyright ends seventy years after the maker's death, and Silent Night, Jingle Bells and most traditional songs are far older. But what you play in the shop is not a melody on paper. It is a recording, and a recording has its own rights. They belong to the singers and musicians and to the record company. Sena collects for them as long as the recording is less than seventy years old. A new arrangement can also carry its own copyright, and then you pay Buma/Stemra too.
For the Christmas songs you hear most, like Last Christmas, All I Want for Christmas Is You or Driving Home for Christmas, the makers died fairly recently or are still alive. So you always pay Buma/Stemra and Sena for those.
Can I play a Spotify Christmas playlist?
No. The terms of Spotify, and of other personal subscriptions, only allow personal use. That applies all year, December included. And even with a business subscription you still pay Buma/Stemra and Sena on top. Read why Spotify for business is not allowed.
Do you need a full licence for one month of Christmas music?
If you play music all year, Christmas music falls under your regular Buma/Stemra and Sena licence. If you only play music in December, a fee is still due for that period. Check with Mijnlicentie which licence fits. With RadioMatic you do not have to work that out. You switch on your Christmas station in December, and nothing is due.
Christmas music that sells, without driving your staff mad
Christmas music works. It puts people in the mood to buy presents. But the same list of thirty songs, for six weeks, eight hours a day, is a punishment for your staff. With RadioMatic new Christmas music is added every day in the style you choose, and the tracks that work come back as your own Christmas hits.
Between the music you put what your customers want to know in December, such as the Sunday openings, the opening hours around the holidays, that you gift-wrap, and your Christmas offers. A presenter talks about your business between the songs, as if you had your own Christmas radio.
And at New Year?
Between Christmas and the first working day of January the mood changes once more. People shop for New Year's Eve, pick up oliebollen and champagne, and in hospitality everything is about the countdown. The same rules apply to that music as to Christmas music. Auld Lang Syne is free as a melody, but every recording has rights that Sena collects for, and for well-known party hits you also pay Buma/Stemra.
With RadioMatic you switch your station to a festive New Year mood after Christmas. The presenter mentions your opening hours on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and your offers for the turn of the year, and wishes your customers a happy New Year on your behalf. In January you switch back to your usual music.
Copyright: 70 years after the maker's death (Dutch Copyright Act, Art. 37). Neighbouring rights in a recording: 70 years after publication (Neighbouring Rights Act, Art. 12). 2026 tariffs, base tariff, for a shop of 200 m² with five staff: Buma/Stemra € 427, Sena € 181.
What your holiday station costs with us
With RadioMatic you pay from € 29.99 per location per month, excluding VAT, and that is all, December included. Because the music is made with AI, there is no composer, singer or record company to collect for.
Start before the holidays and your station is ready in time. You try it free for 14 days, you hear from us within one working day, and you are live in under ten minutes.
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 Christmas and New Year music in your business
Further reading
- Sinterklaas music in your shop, what is allowed and what does it cost?Why you still pay Sena for Sinterklaas songs in your business, and how to do without.
- What does music in a shop cost in 2026?What music in a shop costs in Buma/Stemra and Sena fees, per square metre and per member of staff, with a calculator.
- What is retail radio or in-store radio, and what does it cost?Music plus voices per branch. Bespoke or a ready-made station, and which bills come with it.
- Can you use Spotify in a business?No, and here is why. Plus what it costs you if you do it anyway.
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