Sinterklaas music in your shop: what is allowed, and what does it cost?
Updated
For Sinterklaas songs in your shop you also generally pay Buma/Stemra and Sena. Most old songs, like Sinterklaas kapoentje, are free as a melody, but the recording you play has rights of the singers and the record company, and Sena collects for them. For newer songs you also pay Buma/Stemra. With RadioMatic you run your own Sinterklaas station in November and pay nothing to Buma and Sena, because RadioMatic makes the music with AI.
Your own Sinterklaas station, without Buma and Sena
- A Sinterklaas mood that suits your business. Cheerful for a toy shop, cosy for a bakery or bookshop. New tracks are added every day, and your favourites come round more often.
- Your own messages in between. Surprise tips, shoe gifts, your Pakjesavond offers and the opening hours around 5 December, read by a presenter who mentions your business by name.
- From Sinterklaas to Christmas. After 5 December you switch your station to the Christmas mood, and back again in January.
- No Buma/Stemra and no Sena. Because RadioMatic makes the music with AI.
- Fourteen days free. A reply within one working day and live in under ten minutes, on the speakers already there.
From € 29.99 per location per month, paid yearly. A shop of 200 m² with five staff pays € 608 a year to Buma/Stemra and Sena for music by human makers.
Aren't Sinterklaas songs simply free?
Many Sinterklaas songs are old. Sinterklaas kapoentje, Zie ginds komt de stoomboot and Sint Nicolaas, o kindervriend are free as lyrics and melody, because their makers died more than seventy years ago. But what you play in the shop is a recording, and that has its own rights for the singers, the musicians and the record company. Sena collects for them as long as the recording is less than seventy years old. And today's songs, from TV or the arrival parade, are fully protected, so you pay Buma/Stemra for those too.
Sinterklaas in your shop, without the hassle
With RadioMatic you switch on a Sinterklaas mood in November that suits your business, and between the music a presenter tells your customers what they want to know: that you have surprises and shoe gifts, what your offers are, and when you are open around Pakjesavond. After 5 December you switch it to Christmas.
New music is added every day, and the tracks that work come back. So your staff do not hear the same row of songs for four weeks.
Can I play a Spotify Sinterklaas playlist?
No. Spotify and other personal subscriptions only allow personal use, in November too. Read why Spotify for business is not allowed.
Copyright: 70 years after the maker's death (Dutch Copyright Act, Art. 37). Neighbouring rights in a recording: 70 years after publication (Neighbouring Rights Act, Art. 12). 2026 tariffs, base tariff, for a shop of 200 m² with five staff: Buma/Stemra € 427, Sena € 181.
Work out what you save on your current licence.
Slide in your situation and you will see what you currently pay in music rights every year. That amount disappears, on top of what you save on your current music subscription.
What a Sinterklaas station costs with us
With RadioMatic you pay from € 29.99 per location per month, paid yearly, excluding VAT, and that is all. Because RadioMatic makes the music with AI, there is nobody to collect for. Also read about Christmas music in your shop.
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.
You can also use RadioMatic directly in Claude or ChatGPT. Add a connector in your chatbot with the address https://radiomatic.ai/mcp/, in Claude via Customize and then Connectors. No login is needed. Then ask, for example: "What does music in my business cost, and what do I save with RadioMatic?" Connect RadioMatic to your chatbot
Questions about Sinterklaas music in your business
Further reading
- Can you play music in your shop, and what does it cost?What it costs per square metre and per member of staff, and why the second bill is the surprise.
- Why do supermarkets play music, and what does it cost?What music does to shopping, the Belgian switch to AI music, and the levies per square metre.
- What does music cost in hospitality, and does the terrace count?The highest tariff of all categories, and why the terrace counts.
- 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.
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.