Largely unknown in the wider world, CB is a logistics company that, among other things (healthcare, for example) distributes print and digital books across the Netherlands and Belgium.
Again largely unknown in the wider world, Luisterhuis is an audiobook platform in the Netherlands that since 2010 has been the Netherlands’ primary audiobook distributor, as part of Luisterrijk BV, which was the first Dutch online audiobook store back in 2007.
The press release notes Luisterhuis has around 5,500 titles from more than 200 publishers.
But from January 1 2020 Luisterhuis, while retaining its brand name, will be part of CB.
Luisterhuis distributes audio books and CB e-books and physical books. By integrating Luisterhuis, customers can manage and distribute all their books via one platform. This means time savings and convenience for publishers and retailers.
CB will take over the technology from Luisterhuis and integrate it into the CB systems.
Hans Willem Cortenraad , general manager CB explained,
With Luisterhuis we integrate a proven technology with which we can serve a growth market. Moreover, we respond to a clear need from our customers: publishers ask us for ‘one-stop-shopping’.
Huub van de Pol is the director of Icontact, the company that Luisterhuis has developed for owner / operator Luisterrijk BV.
The press release describes Icontact as,
a Haarlem software company that is very active in the book trade with applications in the field of book metadata, e-books and audio books.
Huub van de Pol explained,
The audio book market is growing faster than ever. We want the platform to grow with us and that requires more capacity than we have in-house. We have found a reliable partner in CB to further shape growth. By integrating Luisterhuis with the specialized CB services, the audio book services can be further improved, without the wheel being reinvented.
CB’s print on demand provision is handled by Printforce.
