Looking for an alternative to Synerplay?

What does Synerplay offer, and what does it cost?

Synerplay delivers music for business premises through an app. You get more than 400 curated playlists, your own playlists, a music calendar for scheduling ahead and full control over the queue. The site lists packages by sector for cafés and bars, restaurants, hotels, retail, salons, offices, sport and fitness, sports canteens, wellness and spa, and waiting rooms.

According to the pricing page, Start costs € 16 per month billed annually and Pro € 30. A third package, Direct, is announced. The music calendar and Sonos are paid extras. No VAT note appears beside those amounts.

The music computer is a separate touchscreen player at € 449 one-off. That page notes that the price excludes the music subscription and excludes 21% VAT. It is not strictly required, as the service also runs in the app. A 30-day trial is available without payment details.

Are Buma and Sena included in the Synerplay price?

No. Their music rights page puts it in one sentence. As a business owner you are responsible yourself for arranging these licences, through Mijnlicentie.nl. Just above it the page says this applies to every music source, whether you play from CDs, the radio or a business streaming service. According to Synerplay, the royalty-free music in their range also needs a Sena licence.

That is not down to Synerplay. With music made by people the fee attaches to the music and not to the supplier. No provider can remove that obligation. For you it does mean that a subscription of € 30 per month is the first of two amounts.

How high that second amount is depends on your sector and your floor area. For a shop up to 100 m² with at most five staff, the 2026 base tariff for Buma/Stemra and Sena together is € 466 per year. A larger shop or a hospitality venue pays more. The full table is on what a music licence costs. Work out below what it is for your business.

Which alternatives are there, and what do they cost?

With most providers of well-known music you pay a subscription, and Buma/Stemra and Sena come on top. They say so themselves. Tunify, part of Soundtrack since February 2026, starts at € 269.88 per zone a year. Backsound and My Instore Radio also work with a subscription. Mood Media works on quotation, see what Mood Media costs. Work out below what Buma/Stemra and Sena cost for your business.

BusinessMusic.ai supplies AI music from € 191.88 a year and says the collecting society fees are included. With RadioMatic you pay from € 29.99 per location per month, with no Buma/Stemra and no Sena. More providers are listed in the background music buyer's guide.

How do you compare providers fairly?

Take the monthly amount and multiply it by twelve and by the number of zones or locations. Add the annual levy to Buma/Stemra and Sena. Count hardware separately, because a player at € 449 one-off shifts the first year considerably. Only then do you have figures you can put side by side.

Ask every provider the same question in writing. Is the Buma/Stemra and Sena levy included in this amount, yes or no? If a provider says nothing is payable, ask why. That can mean two things. Either the writers are not affiliated with a collecting society, or there is no human author at all. That difference is worked out on music without Buma and Sena.

Finally, look at what is already installed in your premises. A stream usually plays on the equipment you have, through Sonos, a Chromecast, a tablet or a cable into a spare input on the amplifier. What you need is set out on a music system for hospitality.