Background music for your DIY store, without Buma and Sena
If you run a DIY store, you sit in the most expensive retail table at Buma/Stemra and at Sena alike. With RadioMatic you pay nothing to Buma/Stemra and Sena, because the music is made entirely with AI.
With RadioMatic from € 29.99 per location per month, without Buma and Sena. News and your own announcements with Professional. See all plans
What do you pay now for music in your DIY store?
Three questions, and you see what you now spend on Buma/Stemra, Sena and your music service.
How big is your business?
What else you get
Music under your announcements In a DIY store the sound system is already a tool. Announcements go out that a colleague is needed at the cutting bench, that till three is opening and that Mr Jansen’s order is ready. RadioMatic sits underneath that as music and stays out of the way. Your own microphone keeps doing what it did and cuts over the music.
Your own promotions between tracks Between the tracks the DJ moments name your store and play your own promotions. Think of the offer on floorboards, the tile cutter hire, the cutting service, the delivery service or the opening hours at Easter. You type it in and it is there on the next round, in the voice you pick. A chain normally does that with a centrally recorded tape, and for a single site it was until now beyond reach. Want music only for a while, then you switch the voices off.
No ads from other brands Third-party advertising never comes in between with us, so no other brand or competitor is advertising in your store. And for the people on the floor the music is new every day, in the same style. Anyone walking between the same racks for eight hours five days a week hears the difference between a list and a station.
Why does a DIY store pay more for music than an ordinary shop?
Self-service costs double If you run a DIY store, you pay more for music than an ordinary shop of the same size. That is down to the classification. Buma/Stemra puts shops in the favourable category, but expressly excludes self-service businesses, supermarkets and department stores from it. A DIY store where customers fill their own trolleys is such a self-service business. That puts you in the dearest category, and you pay twice as much for the same floor.
Sena charges per square metre Sena charges differently, but there too a DIY store comes out more expensive. A DIY store does not fall under the table for ordinary shops there, which charges per member of staff. It falls under the table for supermarkets, department stores and DIY stores, which charges per square metre of public space.
Watch the garden department and warehouse Add the two together, and a DIY store pays a good half more per year than a garden centre a quarter larger. Watch what plays in your garden department, your drive-in and your warehouse as well. If it is the same music from the same source, those metres are added together into one bracket. If it is different music, you pay for each space separately.
No fees for AI-made music With RadioMatic you pay nothing to Buma/Stemra or Sena, because the music is made entirely with AI. Buma/Stemra itself says that music made entirely by AI, without a creative contribution from a person, does not qualify for copyright or payment. The same applies to Sena.
What the law and the court say Sena can only collect for a recording that has been commercially released, and on that ground Sena lost in court in 2025. The full reasoning is in our legal memorandum.
| Buma/Stemra | € 1,707 |
|---|---|
| Sena, including the RAAP-PPI surcharge | € 809 |
| Together per year | € 2,516 |
Sources: Buma/Stemra, mechanical background music, 2026 prices, Buma/Stemra, binding tariff text BUM.129.26/01, Sena, 2026 tariff overview, Verkoopruimtes II on p. 8, mijnlicentie.nl. A DIY store falls under category A at Buma/Stemra, because article 7 of BUM.129.26/01 describes category B as shops with the exception of self-service businesses, supermarkets and department stores. For the same bracket category A is exactly twice category B. At Sena a DIY store falls under Verkoopruimtes II (retail spaces II), the table for supermarkets, department stores and DIY stores, which charges per square metre of publicly accessible space instead of per FTE. The comparison is a DIY store of 1,200 m² against a garden centre of 1,500 m² with 20 staff, which falls under category B at Buma and under Verkoopruimtes I at Sena. Article 8 of BUM.129.26/01 adds floor areas within one building together when the same music from the same sound source plays there, and charges for each space separately when different music plays. Amounts per year, Buma/Stemra excluding VAT, Sena exempt from VAT and here including the RAAP-PPI surcharge of 26.6%. Details of other providers from their own sites, consulted on 23 September 2026. Also used ECLI:NL:RBGEL:2025:6175.
What music works between concrete and steel?
A hall that rings on A DIY store has a concrete floor, steel racking up to the roof and not a single soft surface. So the sound rings on for a long time, and detail disappears. On top of that comes the noise of trolleys, forklifts, the saw and the tills. Music that has to come through there needs a clear midrange. You cannot build on bass or fine detail, because you will not hear those anyway. Turning it up does not help, because then your announcements become harder to understand.
Customers come with a purpose The customer comes here with a purpose. Someone looking for a hinge wants to be out again in ten minutes. Someone choosing a bathroom stays an hour. Music that invites strolling does not fit here, and neither does a tempo that hurries people. A steady station with constant energy works better here than something with a lot of peaks. On a Saturday morning, when the store is full, it may sit a bit firmer than on an empty Wednesday afternoon, and you set that by part of the day.
Another station at the back At the back of the store it is often a different business. The cutting bench, the warehouse and the counter for collection orders are workplaces and not a sales floor. A different station may run there, for people who stand there all day. With RadioMatic you set that per zone, from the same dashboard.
It works on your existing announcement system
In through your 100-volt system A DIY store of this size has a 100-volt system, and usually that is also the announcement system. One amplifier feeds dozens of speakers over long cable runs, each with its own transformer, spread over zones. RadioMatic goes in through the line-in on that existing amplifier.
Your microphone keeps priority You do not have to replace a speaker or pull a cable. Your announcement microphone keeps priority over the music, exactly as now. Sonos, Chromecast and a browser on a PC work too, but on these floors the line-in is usually the shortest route.
Evacuation alerts still come first If your sound system is linked to an evacuation system, nothing about that changes. On a fire alarm that system interrupts whatever is playing and gives priority to the evacuation message.
We only supply the source Whether the music came from a CD player, an internet radio or from RadioMatic makes no difference there, because we supply only the source. The zones you have stay as they are. You hear back within one working day, and after that your station is live in under ten minutes.
What you can choose from today
Who serves DIY stores now Look for music for your DIY store and one of the names you come across is Muziek op de Zaak from Valkenswaard. It supplies background music, announcements and lighting for shops, and names the DIY store in so many words. Backsound supplies background music with a mini PC alongside, or the software alone for your own computer.
Ask what is arranged With both of them you play music by human creators. How the rights are arranged differs. Backsound writes that those rights are included in the subscription. Muziek op de Zaak says nothing about it on that page. With most providers the Buma/Stemra and Sena bill comes on top of your subscription, so always ask what exactly has been arranged. What that bill amounts to for a DIY store is set out above.
With RadioMatic the music sits underneath your announcements, so the call for a colleague at the cutting bench still comes through clearly. The cutting bench, the warehouse and the collection counter get a station of their own for the people who stand there all day. Between the tracks the DJ plays your own promotions, from the offer on floorboards to the tile cutter hire.
Why 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 Professional, no studio |
| Local news and weather | No | Yes, the station’s | No | Yes, with Professional, your town |
| 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 |
Frequently asked questions about music in your DIY store
Other kinds of business
- Background music for your garden centre, without Buma and SenaGarden centre and plant centre
- Background music for your furniture store, without Buma and SenaFurniture store, home store and retail park
- Background music for your showroom, without Buma and SenaCar showroom and dealership
- Background music in the shopping centre, without Buma and SenaShopping centres and arcades
Background music for business. What is allowed, what does it cost and what are your options?
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.
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