You received a letter from Mijnlicentie. Now what?
Mijnlicentie is the joint collection operation of Buma/Stemra and Sena. The letter means they assume music can be heard in your premises for which payment is due. It is not a fine and not a prosecution, but a claim — and it does not go away if you leave it lying around.
What Mijnlicentie actually is
Buma/Stemra collects on behalf of composers and lyricists, under the Dutch Copyright Act. Sena collects on behalf of performing artists and record labels, under the Neighbouring Rights Act. Those are two separate rights and two separate organisations.
Because almost everyone who deals with one also deals with the other, they collect jointly under a single name: mijnlicentie.nl. One letter, one invoice, two rights holders behind it.
You have three options, and one of them is bad
The first: you do play music by human authors and you are going to pay. The tariff depends on your sector and on the floor area where the music can be heard. Check that area, because in practice that is where assumption and reality diverge most.
The second: you do not play music for which payment is due, and you say so with reasoning. You then need to be able to show what you do play. A statement from your supplier belongs with that.
The third is leaving the letter alone. That is the most expensive one, because the period being recovered keeps running and civil collection does not make it cheaper. If you want out of the licence, first read how to cancel Buma/Stemra.
Check the assumption before you pay
An invoice is based on data that is not always right: the number of square metres, the category your business has been placed in, whether there are several spaces where music can be heard.
Work out below what the 2026 tariffs give for your own floor area and sector. If that differs from what the letter says, that is the conversation you want to have.
Tariffs: Buma/Stemra and Sena, tariff year 2026, including the RAAP-PPI surcharge. Sources are published on bumastemra.nl and sena.nl. This is information, not legal advice.
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.
Making the bill disappear rather than shrinking it
As long as you play music by human authors, payments remain due — whichever supplier you use. The amount can come down; it does not go away.
With music generated entirely by AI it is different: there is no composer, no lyricist, no performing artist and no commercially released phonogram. No rights holder, so no basis for collection. That is why RadioMatic has no second bill attached to it.
Read the legal reasoningQuestions that come with this
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