What does music cost in your business?
If you play music in a space where customers or staff come, you pay two levies in the Netherlands: one to Buma/Stemra and one to Sena. Below are the official 2026 rates, by sector and by floor area, with the calculator above them.
Work out what you save on your current licence.
Slide in your situation and you will see what you currently pay in music rights every year. That amount disappears, on top of what you save on your current music subscription.
Why there are two bills
Buma/Stemra collects on behalf of the people who wrote the music: the composer and the lyricist. The basis is the Dutch Copyright Act. The rate depends on the type of space and the number of square metres where the music is audible.
Sena collects on behalf of the performing artists and the record labels. The basis is Article 7 of the Dutch Neighbouring Rights Act. This is a separate bill from the Buma/Stemra one, and in many sectors it is the larger of the two.
On top of the Sena base rate comes a surcharge of 26.6 per cent, the RAAP-PPI surcharge, which applies for the period 2022 to 2026 inclusive. The amounts in the Sena column below include that surcharge, as does the calculator. That is what you actually pay.
The 2026 rates
Amounts per year, per location, excluding VAT. The division into categories is Buma/Stemra’s and Sena’s own, not ours. If your premises sit exactly on a boundary, the band your floor area still falls within applies.
Retail
Shop · Showroom · Car dealership · Boutique · Supermarket · DIY store · Garden centre · Petrol station · Pharmacy · Optician
| Floor area | Buma/Stemra | Sena incl. surcharge | Together per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| up to and including 100 m² | € 284.54 | € 720.52 | € 1,005.06 |
| up to and including 200 m² | € 426.81 | € 957.80 | € 1,384.61 |
| up to and including 400 m² | € 569.08 | € 1,274.58 | € 1,843.66 |
| up to and including 800 m² | € 711.35 | € 1,695.26 | € 2,406.61 |
| up to and including 1600 m² | € 853.62 | € 2,034.31 | € 2,887.93 |
| per 1600 m² above that | + € 142.27 | + € 360.28 | — |
Work & public
Shopping centre · Public space · Office · Museum · Staff restaurant · Reception · Car park · Warehouse / workshop
| Floor area | Buma/Stemra | Sena incl. surcharge | Together per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| up to and including 100 m² | € 569.08 | € 790.44 | € 1,359.52 |
| up to and including 200 m² | € 853.62 | € 1,186.05 | € 2,039.67 |
| up to and including 400 m² | € 1,138.16 | € 1,580.82 | € 2,718.98 |
| up to and including 800 m² | € 1,422.70 | € 1,976.01 | € 3,398.71 |
| up to and including 1600 m² | € 1,707.24 | € 2,371.27 | € 4,078.51 |
| per 1600 m² above that | + € 284.54 | + € 395.18 | — |
Care & wellbeing
Dentist · GP practice · Physio · Waiting room · Beauty salon · Hairdresser · Massage / nails · Gym · Dance school · Sauna / other
| Floor area | Buma/Stemra | Sena incl. surcharge | Together per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| up to and including 100 m² | € 569.08 | € 361.34 | € 930.42 |
| up to and including 200 m² | € 853.62 | € 556.82 | € 1,410.44 |
| up to and including 400 m² | € 1,138.16 | € 752.26 | € 1,890.42 |
| up to and including 800 m² | € 1,422.70 | € 947.65 | € 2,370.35 |
| up to and including 1600 m² | € 1,707.24 | € 1,143.10 | € 2,850.34 |
| per 1600 m² above that | + € 284.54 | + € 195.46 | — |
At Buma/Stemra this group falls under the same category as offices and shopping centres; only Sena has its own, lower rate for it. That is not an error in the table but a difference in how the two organisations classify.
Hospitality
Snack bar · Restaurant · Hotel · Catering · Leisure park · Café · B&B · Club
| Floor area | Buma/Stemra | Sena incl. surcharge | Together per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| up to and including 30 m² | € 105.08 | € 1,280.47 | € 1,385.55 |
| up to and including 100 m² | € 672.00 | € 1,280.47 | € 1,952.47 |
| up to and including 200 m² | € 956.54 | € 1,807.84 | € 2,764.38 |
| up to and including 300 m² | € 1,241.08 | € 2,365.29 | € 3,606.37 |
| up to and including 400 m² | € 1,525.62 | € 2,907.65 | € 4,433.27 |
| up to and including 500 m² | € 1,810.16 | € 3,450.00 | € 5,260.16 |
| per 100 m² above that | + € 284.54 | + € 542.34 | — |
This page is intended as an aid and is not legal or tax advice. The rates are taken from the published 2026 lists; in case of doubt, the statement from Buma/Stemra and Sena themselves prevails.
What of this falls away with AI music
RadioMatic music is generated entirely by AI. There is no composer and no lyricist, so there is no copyright for Buma/Stemra to collect on. There is no performing artist and no commercially released phonogram, so there is no neighbouring right for Sena to collect on.
Both amounts in the tables above therefore fall away. What remains is the subscription to the service itself, priced per location per month.
This is not a device for avoiding a levy but a consequence of how the Dutch Copyright Act and the Neighbouring Rights Act are built: no author means no rights holder. The full reasoning is set out in the legal memorandum.
Check your own situation
The amounts above are the standard rates. Your own invoice may differ because of discounts, sector agreements or a package you take through a music provider. What you currently pay is shown on mijnlicentie.nl, the joint portal of Buma/Stemra and Sena.
Sources
Every amount on this page comes straight from the official rate lists: