Can you use Spotify in a bar or restaurant?
Updated
The short answer No, you cannot use Spotify in a bar or restaurant. Spotify allows personal use only. And for music made by people you pay Buma/Stemra and Sena regardless.
Why hospitality costs more At the same floor area the hospitality tariff is higher than the retail one. If you also play music on your terrace, that area counts in principle.
What you can play RadioMatic’s music is made entirely with AI and adapts to the time of day by itself. You pay from € 29.99 a month, and nothing to Buma and Sena.
Switch to music your venue 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.
Do you get a fine for playing Spotify in your venue?
Many owners search for "fine Spotify hospitality". The word is wrong. You do not get a fine, you get a bill. Buma/Stemra and Sena are not regulators. They cannot impose an administrative fine. They are collecting societies that recover a fee on behalf of rights holders.
What happens in practice is an invoice, usually retroactive over the period you played music without a licence. If you do not pay, the next step is civil proceedings, not a penalty order. What that costs you is on A fine from Buma/Stemra?
That does not make it optional. But you are dealing with a bill rather than a sanction. The amount follows from a fixed tariff.
Why do you pay more in hospitality than in a shop?
Buma/Stemra and Sena work with categories, and hospitality sits in a different one from a shop. At the same floor area the hospitality tariff is higher. That is a choice in their tariff structure. You cannot negotiate around it.
If you also play music on your terrace, that area counts in principle. There is more on that under music on terraces. Work it out below for your own venue.
What does an inspection actually look like?
Buma/Stemra and Sena collect jointly under the name mijnlicentie.nl. It almost always starts with a letter or an invoice. A visit on site happens, but it is not the rule.
Ignoring a letter is the most expensive option. The claim does not go away, and the period being recovered only gets longer. If you have received such a letter, read more about the mijnlicentie letter.
Tariffs: Buma/Stemra and Sena, tariff year 2026, including the RAAP-PPI surcharge. 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?
So what can you play in your venue instead?
RadioMatic generates its music with AI. There is no composer and no lyricist, and Buma/Stemra itself says that works made entirely by AI do not qualify for copyright or payment. Sena has nothing to collect, because there is no performing artist and no commercially released phonogram. We set that out in our legal memorandum.
For your venue that means one fixed amount per location, with no Buma/Stemra bill arriving after it. The station follows the part of the day, from a quiet morning to a busy evening. If you have a bar and a terrace, you give each zone its own mood.
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 in hospitality
Further reading
- Can you use Spotify in a business?No, and here is why. Plus what it costs you if you do it anyway.
- What does music cost in hospitality, and does the terrace count?The highest tariff of all categories, and why the terrace counts.
- Which music system do you need for your venue?Source, amplifier and speakers. What Sonos can and cannot do, and when to call an installer.
- Music on the terrace. Is it allowed, and what does it cost?Outside counts towards the tariff, and the council looks at something else.
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