Which music system do you need for your venue or shop?
Updated
What is already there is often enough, such as Sonos speakers, a Chromecast or an amplifier with a free input. A music system has two parts: a source that supplies the music, and the sound that carries it into the room. You need an installer for many speakers over long distances, for several zones that have to play independently, or when the sound system also serves as the evacuation system. The music licence is a separate matter entirely. It attaches to the music, not to the equipment.
What makes up a music system?
A source and sound. The source is where the music comes from. That is a business streaming service in an app, a web player on a tablet, or a separate player that many providers call a music computer. The sound is everything else: amplifier, speakers and the cables in between.
If you are looking for a music system for your venue, you are often offered the two as one package. That can be convenient, but it makes comparing harder. You buy the equipment once and pay the subscription every month. Have them listed separately in a quote, so you can see what you are paying for.
A music computer is a source built for this job. It starts by itself, does not depend on a member of staff’s phone, and some keep playing when the internet drops for a while. Kollekt.FM writes about its player that the music keeps going for days when the connection fails. A tablet or laptop can do the same job, as long as nobody uses it for anything else.
Can you use Sonos in a business?
Yes, using Sonos in a business is allowed. The Dutch user agreement (in Dutch) says you accept it on behalf of "yourself or your business". The only explicit restriction to personal, non-commercial use concerns voice control. Sonos Radio, the radio service in the app, is however for personal, non-commercial use only.
In the United States, Sonos sells a business subscription, Sonos Pro, with licensed music and a dashboard for several locations, at $ 35 or $ 70 per location per month. According to Sonos itself it is only available in the United States. On the same page Sonos writes that playing music in a business generally requires commercially licensed music. In the Netherlands you therefore connect Sonos to a business service.
The technical limits are in the system requirements: no more than 32 products per system, no guest networks or networks with a login page, no Wi-Fi range extenders. That is where it usually goes wrong in hospitality, with Sonos on the same network as the guests. Give Sonos a network of its own and wire a speaker in with a cable where you can.
In a larger venue Sonos mainly runs into three things: a busy Wi-Fi network, a power socket at every speaker, and spaces with several zones. A network of its own and wired speakers solve the first two. With many zones or a large floor area, an amplifier with fixed speakers is often simpler.
Can you keep using your Chromecast or amplifier?
Google no longer sells the Chromecast. The Google TV Streamer has replaced it since August 2024. A Chromecast already connected to your system remains usable. Do watch the network. Google writes that its streaming devices do not work on networks with a login page, as is common in businesses, and that client isolation on the router has to be off.
The simplest connection is a cable. If your amplifier or PA has a free input, you connect a tablet, laptop or media player to it and the music plays through the speakers already in place. If you want to use Sonos with an existing amplifier, you do that with a Sonos Port. It goes into the amplifier via RCA or digital coax and can switch it on automatically with a 12V trigger. The Port costs € 499 from Sonos in the Netherlands, the Amp, which drives passive speakers itself, € 799.
A zone is a part of the premises with its own music or its own volume: bar, restaurant, terrace. The same track at a different volume is handled on the amplifier. Different music at the same time needs a second source, and with many providers a second subscription as well.
When do you need an installer?
With many speakers over long distances, such as in a supermarket, DIY store or hotel with long corridors. A 100-volt system is often used there, with one amplifier driving many speakers in parallel over thin cable, across hundreds of metres without significant loss (Monacor). Each speaker has its own transformer there. You cannot simply connect ordinary home speakers to it.
When the sound system is also the evacuation system. Do not touch it yourself. Let the party that maintains it show where a music source may be connected. And with speakers in the ceiling or outside on the terrace, where mounting, cabling and weather come into play.
For a single room where the speakers are already up and the amplifier has a free input, you do not need an installer. Then the only question is which source you connect.
Do you still pay Buma/Stemra and Sena with your own system?
Yes, whatever equipment you choose. The payment to Buma/Stemra and Sena attaches to the music. You pay both licences yourself, directly to the collecting societies, and they apply to every kind of music source.
It works the other way round too. An expensive system does not turn an ordinary streaming account into a business one. Read why Spotify in hospitality is not allowed. What the levies cost for your business is on music in hospitality.
Sources: Sonos, user agreement for the Netherlands, Sonos Radio, terms, Sonos Pro, pricing, Sonos, system requirements, Setting up Sonos Port, Google, Google TV Streamer, Google, Wi-Fi connection, Monacor, 100 V technique and Kollekt.FM. Prices of Port and Amp: sonos.com/nl-nl. Consulted on 22 September 2026.
What do you need for RadioMatic?
Nothing new. The stream plays on Sonos, on a Chromecast, in a browser on a tablet or laptop, or via line-in on the amplifier or PA already in place. We do not supply speakers or amplifiers ourselves. You only need an installer if you would have needed one without us.
You get a complete station per location. The music moves with the time of day, DJ moments mention your business by name, and your own promotions play between the tracks. If you want different music at the bar than on the terrace, you give each zone its own mood and its own source. You run every branch from one dashboard.
The music is generated entirely by AI. There is no composer or lyricist, so nothing for Buma/Stemra. Nothing is due to Sena either, because there is no performing artist and the music is not released as a phonogram. We set that out in our legal memorandum.
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.
Questions that come with this
Further reading
- Can you use Spotify in a business?No, and here is why. Plus what it costs you if you do it anyway.
- Can you use Spotify in a bar or restaurant?No. And what then lands on your doormat is a bill, not a fine.
- How does AI music for business work?What it is, how the levies work, and what to watch out for.
- What is AI music in a shop, and what does it cost?How it sounds, what it costs against ordinary shop music, and what happens to the levies.
Ready to hear it for yourself?
Request access to the beta. Your own station for your business, 14 days free trial, and monthly cancellation if you pay monthly.