Music in the office. When do you have to pay?
Updated
The short answer You pay for music in the office as soon as three or more employees can hear it, or when customers or visitors come in. If no more than two employees hear it and nobody else comes in, you pay nothing, according to Mijnlicentie.
What you pay now For an office with 3 to 10 FTE the Buma/Stemra and Sena licence costs about € 427 a year together, at the 2026 base rate. A reception or showroom where visitors come counts as a public space.
With RadioMatic Buma/Stemra itself says that music made entirely by AI, with no creative input from a person, does not qualify for copyright or payment. Sena can only collect for a recording that has been commercially released, and RadioMatic releases nothing. That is why you pay nothing to Buma and Sena with RadioMatic. The subscription costs from € 29.99 a month.
Music in the office, without a licence per employee
- 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.
From how many employees do you have to pay?
Mijnlicentie names two situations in which you need a licence. The first is music that customers or the public hear in a public space. The second is music that can be heard "by three or more employees in non-public spaces (such as canteens, warehouses and offices)".
So count the people who hear the music, not your whole workforce. If your company employs forty people and the radio is only on in a workshop with two mechanics, you do not need to arrange anything for that radio. An open-plan office with twelve people and a speaker in the middle does need a licence.
Where the music comes from makes no difference. Buma/Stemra even opens its tariff sheet for workspaces with it. "At many companies a radio is on or a PC plays tracks. You owe a fee for the use of that music." With headphones only the wearer hears the music, so you stay under the limit.
How do desks, canteen, warehouse and reception count?
For offices, workshops and warehouses, Buma/Stemra and Sena charge per FTE that can hear the music. Sena counts offices, dispatch areas, kitchens, warehouses, workrooms, garages and workshops among business premises.
The canteen is charged differently, per square metre. Buma/Stemra places company canteens in category A of its tariff for mechanical background music. Sena has its own table for staff restaurants, canteens and recreation rooms. The three-employee limit applies in the canteen too.
Reception has different rules. Buma/Stemra defines workspaces as "spaces in factories and offices not accessible to the public". If visitors, customers or suppliers come in, it is no longer a closed workspace. The music then falls under the rule for public spaces, and it no longer matters how many colleagues hear it. A waiting area works the same way, see Music in waiting rooms.
What does music in the office cost?
You pay Buma/Stemra and Sena, and both charge by the number of staff who hear the music. For an office with 3 to 10 staff that comes to about € 427 a year in 2026. More people means a higher amount. Work out below what it is for your office.
If music also plays in the canteen, a separate amount is added for it, based on floor area. If you play different music in different rooms, each room counts separately.
If you register yourself and pay on time, you get up to 33.33% off. If you do not, the bill still comes afterwards, without that discount. See A fine from Buma/Stemra?
Can you play Spotify, YouTube or TV in the office?
If you put a personal account on the office speaker, you are also breaching the terms of Spotify or YouTube. Spotify and YouTube only allow personal, non-commercial use. That is regardless of what you pay Buma/Stemra and Sena. See Can you use Spotify in a business?
If you show TV programmes in reception, the canteen or a meeting room, you also need a Videma licence. It applies to companies with 3 FTE or more. For 3 to 10 FTE it costs € 95.67 per room per year (Videma, offices and businesses). More on that is on Radio or TV on in your business.
Sources: Mijnlicentie, do I need a music licence, the Buma/Stemra tariff sheets for workspaces and mechanical background music, Sena, 2026 tariff overview and Videma, offices and businesses, all in Dutch. Amounts are base tariffs per year unless the discount is mentioned; Sena including the 26.6% surcharge. Consulted on 22 September 2026. This is information, not legal advice. Also used 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?
Office music without a Buma bill
In an office you want music that runs quietly and distracts no one. With RadioMatic the desks can hear something different from the canteen, and the music changes by itself with the part of the day. It plays through a browser on a PC, through Chromecast or through the Sonos speaker already in the canteen. No new equipment has to go in.
The music is generated entirely by AI. Buma 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. With several locations you run everything from one dashboard, with its own atmosphere per location. 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 music in the office
Further reading
- Can you have the radio on at work, and what does it cost?Dutch health and safety law says nothing about music, so you set the rules. What to agree with your team, and from which employee you pay.
- Can you use Spotify in a business?No, and here is why. Plus what it costs you if you do it anyway.
- Radio on in your business? Then you pay Buma and Sena too.The radio counts like anything else. What it costs, when it does not count, and why TV is a third bill.
- Music without Buma and Sena. Is it possible?Which routes exist, what they really cost, and which one holds up.
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.
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