Can you use Spotify in a business?
Updated
The short answer No, you cannot use Spotify in a business. An ordinary subscription, Premium included, is meant for the home, and Spotify excludes business use in its own terms.
The second bill Playing music in your shop, salon, practice or hospitality venue counts as a public performance. For music made by people you then pay Buma/Stemra and Sena regardless, separate from your subscription.
What does work With RadioMatic you pay from € 29.99 a month, and nothing to Buma and Sena, because the music is made entirely with AI.
Switch to music your business may play
- 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.
Why is Spotify not allowed in your business?
Two things go wrong. The first is your agreement with Spotify itself. Its terms allow personal, non-commercial use. Playing music in a space where customers come falls outside that. In the worst case Spotify closes your account.
The second is entirely separate, and it is the part most business owners miss. It concerns the rights in the music itself. Behind an ordinary track sit a composer, a lyricist, a performing artist and a record label. Buma/Stemra collects for the first two, Sena for the last two. The difference between Buma/Stemra and Sena is explained separately. That bill comes straight to you, and it does not disappear if you switch to another service tomorrow.
So you pay twice. Once for your subscription and once to Buma/Stemra and Sena. That is not a criticism of Spotify or of any other provider. It is how the system works, and they cannot change it.
Is there Spotify for business?
No. Spotify for business does not exist in the Netherlands. Spotify has no business subscription, not even a Premium version for shops or hospitality. If you are looking for background music for your business, you end up with suppliers that are intended for it, with a licence that covers business use.
Ask any such provider one question. Are the Buma/Stemra and Sena levies included in the amount, or do they come on top? Usually they come on top. Then you are comparing two quotes that are not about the same thing. So ask for a figure that includes them.
With RadioMatic nothing comes on top. Because the music is made with AI, you pay no Buma/Stemra and no Sena, and the subscription is the whole bill. If you only want background music, that works. If you want a presenter or your own offers in between, that works too. See the plans.
What does it cost if you arrange nothing?
Buma/Stemra and Sena carry out their own checks and work together under the name mijnlicentie.nl. Usually you first get a letter or an invoice from Mijnlicentie, not a visit. If that letter is already on your doormat, read more about the mijnlicentie letter first.
What you pay per year depends on your sector and on the number of square metres where the music can be heard. Work it out below for your own business.
Can you use YouTube for business?
No, the same applies to YouTube as to Spotify. YouTube only allows personal, non-commercial use in its Terms of Service. "You may view or listen to Content for your personal, non-commercial use." The list of what is not allowed is even more precise. "For example, you may not publicly screen videos or stream music from the Service."
Paying does not change that. YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium fall under the Paid Service Terms, effective 18 June 2026. They allow personal, non-commercial use only. You agree not to use them "in connection with any public presentation even if no fee is charged". The only exception is use that would not infringe copyright. Business use is not an exception in those terms.
The levies are a separate matter. A Buma/Stemra and Sena licence still does not make YouTube allowed in your business, and YouTube Premium does not remove the levies. Sena writes in its 2026 tariff overview (in Dutch) that consumer streaming services are not permitted in a business setting.
What YouTube does allow is embedding a video on your own website with the YouTube player. That is about your site, not about a screen or speaker in your business.
Sources: YouTube, Terms of Service, YouTube, Paid Service Terms, Sena, 2026 tariff overview (in Dutch). Consulted on 22 September 2026. Tariffs: Buma/Stemra and Sena, tariff year 2026, including the RAAP-PPI surcharge. 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?
So what can you play instead?
Music with no human author behind it. RadioMatic generates its music with AI. There is no composer and no lyricist, so there is no copyright on which Buma/Stemra could collect. Buma/Stemra itself says that works made entirely by AI without a human creative contribution do not qualify for copyright or payment.
Nothing is due to Sena either, because there is no performing artist and the music is not released as a phonogram. Our legal memorandum sets it out with the relevant articles of law. What you get in your business is a station of your own, with presenters per part of the day and local news on the hour.
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 Spotify for business
Further reading
- Can you use Spotify in a bar or restaurant?No. And what then lands on your doormat is a bill, not a fine.
- 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.
- 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