BookBeat has entered into an agreement with the Dutch market-leading publisher VBK Uitgevers

BookBeat, one of the largest streaming services for audiobooks, has now entered into a distribution agreement with the market-leading publisher within commercial books in the Dutch markets VBK Uitgevers, allowing Dutch listeners to enjoy the whole catalogue of more than 1800 audiobooks from the renowned publisher. BookBeat will launch in the Netherlands and Belgium during the first quarter of 2022 and will give Dutch users access to more than 500 000 audiobooks and e-books. 

The Netherlands and Belgium will be BookBeats’ 9th and 10th core markets, and the launch of the markets will occur only two months after the successful launch of its Norwegian service. BookBeat was first launched in Sweden 2016 and has already grown to 600,000 paying users. During the last couple of months, BookBeat has focused on the Dutch market. This market is determined to have one of the biggest potentials in Europe to grow in the coming years and BookBeat has been in negotiations with all the major Dutch publishers. As a result, the service has now signed a distribution agreement with the market-leading publisher VBK. 

- We are very happy to announce our cooperation with VBK Uitgevers. With imprints such as Ambo|Anthos Uitgevers, Atlas Contact, Uitgeverij de Fontein and Luitingh-Sijthoff, VBK will be a vital partner for us in the Netherlands and Belgium. We know from experience how important it is to include premium titles that are popular in the specific market, and by offering the catalogue of VBK, users will be able to enjoy books from major and beloved authors like Jill Mansell, Sally Rooney and Herman Koch, among many others, says William Jakoby, Head of Expansion at BookBeat.

VBK are also positive about the launch of BookBeat in the Dutch-speaking regions and comments that more players will help to grow the market. 

- It is our pleasure to offer work by VBK authors to listeners via BookBeat and welcome their entry into the Dutch market. New players are essential for market growth, and we expect BookBeat to bring more healthy competition to the growing audiobook market in The Netherlands and Belgium, says Caroline Mouwens, Commercial Director at VBK Uitgevers.

The Netherlands and Belgium are digitally mature markets with many similarities to the Nordic countries, where BookBeat today is one of the leading audiobook services. BookBeat is now focusing on translating the service to Dutch and recruiting a Dutch marketing team that will assure rapid growth for BookBeat in both the Netherlands and Belgium.

- The ambitions for our expansion in the upcoming years are extensive and, as always, when we enter a market, our long-term goal is a leading position. The new partnership with VBK is very aligned with our strategic approach in which we initiate discussions with local publishers on several markets at the same time, and thereafter decide to invest heavily in the markets with the most potential. I’m very confident that the Dutch team we have started to recruit, together with our other 130 brilliant people in the organization, will make BookBeat a top player in the Dutch regions, says Niclas Sandin, CEO at BookBeat.