Which music system do you need for your venue?

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, so the amplifier, the 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, such as no more than 32 products per system, no guest networks or networks with a login page and no Wi-Fi range extenders. In hospitality it usually goes wrong because Sonos is on the same network as the guests. Give Sonos its own network and wire a speaker in with a cable where you can.

In a larger venue Sonos mainly runs into a busy Wi-Fi network, a power socket at every speaker, and spaces with several zones. A separate network 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, such as the bar, the restaurant or the 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.