What does music cost in hospitality, and does the terrace count?
Updated
The short answer Music in hospitality costs more than in a shop, and your terrace counts in principle. If you play music made by people, you pay Buma/Stemra and Sena. The amount depends on the floor area where the music can be heard.
What you pay now What that is for your venue, you work out below. If you use a business music service, the subscription comes on top.
With RadioMatic The music is made entirely with AI. You pay from € 29.99 a month, and nothing to Buma and Sena.
Work out what music in your venue costs now
Three questions, and you see what you now spend on Buma/Stemra, Sena and your music service.
How big is your business?
Music in your venue, without Buma and Sena
- 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 mentions your business by name, news and your own adverts, if you want.
- 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.
What does a music subscription for hospitality cost?
With a business music service playing well-known music you pay the subscription, often per zone, and Buma/Stemra and Sena on top. In hospitality that second bill is the biggest. For a venue up to 100 m² the base tariff is € 1,952 a year combined, more than the subscription itself.
With RadioMatic the subscription is the whole bill, because the music is made with AI. What it saves your venue, you can work out with the calculator on this page.
Why do you pay more in hospitality than in a shop?
Buma/Stemra and Sena sort spaces into categories, and hospitality sits in the highest one. The thinking is that music contributes more to the experience in a bar or restaurant than in a shop. The rates page sets out the tables per type of business side by side.
Whether you agree matters little. The tariff is not up for negotiation. What you can influence is the floor area that counts.
Which spaces count?
Every space where the music can be heard. A terrace with speakers belongs to that. A kitchen where staff have the radio on does too in principle, even though no guests go there.
A separate room you only use for private occasions counts as soon as music plays there. What you call private is often not private in the eyes of the law. A staff party in a bar is generally still a public performance. If you also play outside, see music on the terrace.
Why is one playlist not enough?
A hospitality venue has four or five moods in a single day. A quiet morning, a busy lunch, a calm afternoon and a full evening.
A fixed playlist does not cover that. You need a station that switches per part of the day, without anyone behind the bar having to think about it. How that works out in a restaurant is on music in restaurants.
Tariffs: Buma/Stemra and Sena, tariff year 2026, including the RAAP-PPI surcharge. Sources are published on bumastemra.nl and sena.nl.
What it costs with us
With us you pay one amount per location per month. The music is generated entirely by AI. Buma/Stemra itself says that such works do not qualify for payment, and the same applies to Sena. In hospitality that makes the biggest difference, because the tariff is highest there.
The station switches by itself from morning to lunch to evening. DJ moments mention your venue by name, and between tracks you can feature your own menu or offers. If you also play on the terrace, you give it its own mood from the same dashboard.
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 |
| 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 music in hospitality
Further reading
- Music on the terrace. Is it allowed, and what does it cost?Outside counts towards the tariff, and the council looks at something else.
- What music suits your restaurant, and what does it cost?Mood by time of day, what research really says, and the levies at the hospitality rate.
- Can you use Spotify in a bar or restaurant?No. And what then lands on your doormat is a bill, not a fine.
- Which music system do you need for your venue?Source, amplifier and speakers. What Sonos can and cannot do, and when to call an installer.
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