Music without Buma and Sena. Is it possible?
Updated
The short answer Yes, you can play music without Buma/Stemra and Sena. With RadioMatic you pay nothing to Buma and Sena, because the music is made entirely by AI. The subscription, from € 29.99 a month, is all you pay.
Three routes You can play public domain music, music whose authors do not use collective management, or music with no human composer. Only the last one rules the bill out entirely. With the first two you have to supply the proof, and that is harder than it looks.
Music without Buma and Sena, in one subscription
- 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.
Music without Buma and Sena in your shop or business
With RadioMatic you pay no Buma/Stemra and no Sena, because the music is made with AI. There is no composer, lyricist or artist to collect for. That applies to a shop just as much as to a hair salon, a hospitality venue or a practice.
With almost any other music in your business you do pay them. If you switch on the radio or use a business streaming service or royalty-free stock music, there is a human author behind it and a bill from Mijnlicentie follows. What that comes to for your business, you can work out with the calculator on this page.
Is public domain music free to play?
Work whose term of protection has expired is free to use. That sounds simple, but it runs aground on a detail. The composition may be free of rights, the recording usually is not.
A performance of Bach from 2019 is a commercially released phonogram with a performing artist on it. Sena does have a basis there, even though the composer died centuries ago.
Can you play music by authors who are not affiliated?
There are authors who have not joined a collecting society and license their work themselves. That exists and it is legitimate.
In practice it is harder. You have to be able to show per track that the author is not affiliated. And that changes if they join after all. You are the one who has to be able to prove that, not Buma/Stemra or Sena.
What if there is no human author?
Copyright arises with a human creation. Without a composer and without a lyricist there is no work on which Buma/Stemra could collect on anyone’s behalf.
The same goes for neighbouring rights. Article 7 of the Dutch Neighbouring Rights Act requires a commercially released phonogram with a performance by a performing artist. With music generated by a model and never released, both are absent.
This is the only route where no rights holder exists who could come forward later. With the other two there is an author. You are simply betting that they are not represented. How music without a human author is made, you can read in AI music for business.
Tariffs: Buma/Stemra and Sena, tariff year 2026. Sources are published on bumastemra.nl and sena.nl.
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?
Which route does RadioMatic take?
Route 3. The music comes from a generative model, is made for one station and has never been released. No composer, no lyricist, no performing artist, no phonogram producer.
The full reasoning is in our legal memorandum, with the articles from the Dutch Copyright Act and the Neighbouring Rights Act. What we cannot verify ourselves is stated there honestly too.
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 without Buma and Sena
Further reading
- How does AI music for business work?What it is, how the levies work, and what to watch out for.
- Do you have to pay Sena for AI music?What Sena says about AI music, and why you pay nothing with RadioMatic.
- Royalty-free music in your shop. What does it mean?The word covers three different things. One of them does not help you.
- Affordable background music for your businessWhat music in your business really costs, and how to avoid the second bill.
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