Background music for your photo studio, without Buma and Sena
RadioMatic gives your photo studio a different mood for each shoot, with voices you switch off the moment the camera runs. Because the music is made entirely by AI, no payments are due to Buma/Stemra and Sena.
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 photo studio?
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 as working material In a photo studio music is working material. A model who feels uncomfortable gives you stiff pictures. A silent studio with only the sound of the shutter makes that discomfort bigger. The tempo of the music helps set the tempo you work at. With RadioMatic you change that mood in two taps on your phone. So between a portrait session at ten and a movement shoot at two there is no hunt through playlists.
Speech off while recording Everything that speaks can go off. In a studio that matters, because an announcement in the middle of a video recording or an interview makes the material unusable. You switch the DJ moments and the news rounds off while the camera runs, and on again in the break. Or you leave them off for good if you want music only. Third-party advertising never comes in between anyway.
Music for studio tenants If you rent the studio out to other photographers, the music simply plays on. The tenant does not have to hook their own phone up to your installation. With more than one studio or a second location, they sit under one account with settings of their own per space. The music is generated and does not come from a fixed list. So on a day with eight sessions back to back you do not keep hearing the same three hundred tracks.
Which tariff does a photo studio fall under?
Photo studio is not named Search the Buma/Stemra tariffs for photo studio and you find nothing. Background music in a business space falls under the tariff for mechanical background music. Within that tariff category B is a closed list, with swimming and sauna baths, sports spaces and waiting areas without a hospitality facility among others.
Landing in the dearer category A photo studio is not on it. So you end up in category A, the residual category for everything that is not on that list. You land there because your trade is not named anywhere, and category A is the dearer of the two.
Sena's leftover table At Sena it runs through the table Overige ruimtes (other spaces), and a note belongs with that. It is the only table in the overview without an explanation, so nowhere does it say what falls under it. It is the general table left over when none of the others fit.
Ask for an answer on paper One thing appears in neither text. What applies in a studio that is not open to the public, where during a session only a photographer, a model and a client are present? We are not going to guess about that. Put your situation to Buma/Stemra and Sena and ask for an answer on paper.
No fees for AI-made music With RadioMatic no payment is due 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.
What the law and the court say The same applies to Sena. 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 | € 854 |
|---|---|
| Sena, including the RAAP-PPI surcharge | € 430 |
| Together per year | € 1,283 |
Sources: Buma/Stemra, mechanical background music, binding tariff text BUM.129.26/01, article 3, article 7 and article 8, Buma/Stemra, tariff sheet mechanical background music 2026, and Sena, 2026 tariff overview, page 15, table Overige ruimtes. Article 7 of BUM.129 is a closed list for category B, and the tariff sheet describes category A as all other operations with mechanical background music. The category A scale runs by floor area up to 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1,600 m², and above that per 1,600 m² more, and the Sena scale runs along the same lines. Article 8 provides that floor areas are added together where the same music from the same source plays in different spaces, and that you pay for each space separately where different music plays. Overige ruimtes is the only table in the Sena overview without an explanation. Amounts per year and base tariff, 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.
A different tempo for each shoot
From newborn to dance shoot A newborn shoot and a dance shoot have nothing in common apart from the space. With a baby or a small child you want music that runs on softly and evenly, without swings in volume that make someone jump. With movement, sport or dance a higher tempo works. The model moves with the pulse, and you press the shutter on that same pulse. The difference is tens of beats per minute, and one playlist does not cover that.
Business portraits and brand shoots Business portraits sit in between. Someone who has to be photographed for work would often rather not be there. Then music that is simply present, without drawing attention, helps. On a campaign or a brand shoot the client sometimes wants to hear something that fits the brand. You set that up beforehand, so you do not have to look for it on the spot.
Music off for video With video it is different, because then everything that sounds in the space leaks into your recording. Music off is the standard there, and with RadioMatic that is one button. Between the takes you switch it back on.
A browser and the speakers you already have
Nothing new to buy You do not have to buy anything. Most studios already have something, such as a pair of monitor speakers by the work station, a Sonos or a small amplifier with speakers on the wall. The stream comes in through a browser on the computer you are tethering to anyway, through Sonos, through a Chromecast or through the line-in on your amplifier. We do not supply speakers and you do not need them from us either.
Control from your phone You control everything from your phone. So during a session you do not have to walk over to a computer. With two studios in the same building or a second location, those are two zones under one account, each with its own mood. You hear back within one working day, and after that your station is live in under ten minutes.
What you can choose from today
No supplier for photo studios Look for music for your photo studio and you will not find a supplier aimed at your trade. Of the suppliers we checked, not one names photo studios or recording spaces as a sector. So you end up with a general business subscription, for instance at Synerplay, My Instore Radio or Backsound.
Licences not in the subscription On it you are playing music by human creators. That means two extra bills, from Buma/Stemra and from Sena. My Instore Radio says itself that licences for public use of music are not part of the subscription and cannot be part of it. Backsound writes on its own site that the business owner remains responsible for the public performance licence. What that costs is set out above.
With RadioMatic you set up a different mood for each shoot from your phone, soft and even for a newborn shoot and a higher tempo for dance or sport. When you record video, one button switches off everything that speaks, or the music altogether. If you rent the studio out, the music simply plays on for your tenant.
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 photo studio
Other kinds of business
- Background music for your museum, without Buma and SenaMuseums and exhibition spaces
- Background music for your showroom, without Buma and SenaCar showroom and dealership
- Background music for your co-working space, without Buma and SenaCo-working and flex offices
- Background music for your hair salon, without Buma and SenaBackground music for hair salons
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.
Rather talk first? Book a 15-minute call