Christmas music in your shop: what is allowed, and what does it cost?
Updated
Christmas music in your shop or business is public music, and you generally pay Buma/Stemra and Sena for it, even if the song is a hundred years old. The melody of Silent Night is free, but every recording has a singer and a record company, and Sena collects for them. For well-known Christmas songs like Last Christmas you also pay Buma/Stemra. A Spotify Christmas playlist is not allowed in a business. With RadioMatic you run your own Christmas station in December and pay nothing to Buma and Sena, because RadioMatic makes the music with AI.
Your own Christmas station, without Buma and Sena
- Christmas music that suits your business. From warm and acoustic to cheerful and festive. New Christmas tracks are added every day, and your Christmas hits, the tracks that do well for you, come round more often. So your staff are not driven mad by the same list in the third week of December.
- Your own Christmas messages in between. Sunday openings, holiday opening hours, gift tips and your Christmas offers, read by a presenter who mentions your business by name.
- Switch it on whenever you like. A little in November, fully around the holidays, and back to your usual mood in January.
- No Buma/Stemra and no Sena. Because RadioMatic makes the music with AI. Not even for that one month.
- Fourteen 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, paid yearly. A shop of 200 m² with five staff pays € 608 a year to Buma/Stemra and Sena for music by human makers, even if Christmas music only plays in December.
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: those of the singers and musicians and those of 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: the Sunday openings, the opening hours around the holidays, that you gift-wrap, and your Christmas offers. A presenter mentions your business by name, as if you had your own Christmas radio.
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.
Work out what you save on your current licence.
Slide in your situation and you will see what you currently pay in music rights every year. That amount disappears, on top of what you save on your current music subscription.
What a Christmas station costs with us
With RadioMatic you pay from € 29.99 per location per month, paid yearly, excluding VAT, and that is all, December included. Because RadioMatic makes the music with AI, there is no composer, singer or record company to collect for.
Start before the holidays and your Christmas station is ready in time: you try it free for fourteen 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 no studio |
| Local news and weather | No | Yes, the station’s | No | Yes, your town, your choice of topics |
| Other people’s adverts | No | Yes | No | No |
| Buma/Stemra and Sena | Payable | Payable | See the terms | Not payable |
New music every day
The station keeps getting new tracks in the same style, because the music is generated rather than drawn from a fixed list. A track that lands well with your audience comes round more often, and then it is your hit. It was made for your station and plays nowhere else.
It names your business
Between the tracks, DJ voices announce what is going on at your place. Your offer, your opening hours, this week’s deal. That used to need a studio and a voice actor.
It moves with the day
The morning, the rush and the last hour each call for something different. That is set per part of the day and happens by itself, with nobody behind the counter picking a new list.
Local news if you want it
A short bulletin on the hour about your own town, with the weather and the traffic alongside. You choose which subjects you want, or you switch it off entirely.
No one else’s advertising
On an ordinary station the business down the road advertises in between your tracks. With us, nothing comes in between that is not yours.
Every location from one screen
Each site keeps its own mood, its own promotions and its own opening hours, and you run them all from the same place.
A playlist is worn out within two weeks, and on an ordinary station the business down the road advertises in between your tracks. With us the station is yours. Your style, your announcements, and the tracks that land with your audience come round more often.
You can also use RadioMatic directly in Claude or ChatGPT. Add a connector in your chatbot with the address https://radiomatic.ai/mcp/, in Claude via Customize and then Connectors. No login is needed. Then ask, for example: "What does music in my business cost, and what do I save with RadioMatic?" Connect RadioMatic to your chatbot
Questions about Christmas music in your business
Further reading
- Sinterklaas music in your shop: what is allowed, and what does it cost?Sinterklaas songs in your business: why you still pay Sena, and how to do without.
- Can you play music in your shop, and what does it cost?What it costs per square metre and per member of staff, and why the second bill is the surprise.
- Why do supermarkets play music, and what does it cost?What music does to shopping, the Belgian switch to AI music, and the levies per square metre.
- What does music cost in hospitality, and does the terrace count?The highest tariff of all categories, and why the terrace counts.
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.