Strengholt Holding

Strengholt Holding, also known as Strengholt BV, is a Dutch media and entertainment company whose roots date to 1928, when it began as a publisher of books and magazines. Over time, the business expanded from traditional publishing into music publishing, copyright administration, recorded music, audiovisual distribution, special-interest media, sponsored content, digital projects, and technology-enabled marketing services. The group’s music activities are organized principally through Strengholt Music Group, which has operated as one of the larger independent music publishers in the Benelux for more than five decades. Its work includes leasing music rights, administering copyrights in national and international territories, publishing and distributing sheet music, and representing external publishing catalogues. The group’s repertoire has included works associated with Dutch artists and songwriters as well as international material. Names connected with its catalogues include Chuck Berry, Jan Smit, Belinda Meuldijk, Emile Hartkamp, Piet Souer, Ferry Corsten, Showtek, Markus Schulz, Paul Elstak, Peter van Asten, and Laurens van Rooyen. Strengholt also owns or has operated Dureco, one of the Netherlands’ older record-label businesses. Through Dureco-related activities, the group has been involved in leasing and exploiting recorded-music catalogues associated with artists including Vader Abraham, Corry & de Rekels, Jacques Herb, Intwine, De Kermisklanten, Anita Meyer, Mieke, and Benny Neyman. This gives Strengholt a position across both the composition-rights and sound-recording sides of the music business. Beyond music, Strengholt Entertainment sells, markets, and distributes physical media products such as DVDs, Blu-ray discs, CDs, games, and related accessories. Strengholt MultiMedia publishes special-interest audiovisual titles covering sport, documentaries, lifestyle, culture, travel, film, war, music, royalty, television, nature, animals, and history. Several historical and sports projects have been produced with Dutch public-media organizations, including the Netherlands Broadcasting Foundation and the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. The company’s publishing activities include Strengholt’s Books, the group’s oldest business line, and Strengholt United Media. Its list has covered fiction and nonfiction, including health, esotericism and parapsychology, history, politics, management, media, nature, children’s literature, music, culinary subjects, biographies, and novels. The publishing operation has also issued Dutch translations of internationally known works and practical music titles. European Music Centre functions as a sheet-music publisher and distributor representing numerous Dutch and international publishing houses. Other activities include Strengholt Magazines, which publishes Beauty+, a publication focused on cosmetic treatments, skin and hair care, anti-aging, and wellness, and Strengholt Content, which develops television and new-media formats, including sponsored programming for brands and organizations. Strengholt Connect provides website, web-shop, and online-marketing services and was involved in developing the Free Record Shop digital operation before that retailer entered bankruptcy in 2014. In 1971, Strengholt moved its head office from Leidsegracht in Amsterdam to the Oud-Bussem Hofstede in Naarden, a historic listed complex. In July 2023, CTM Outlander announced an intended acquisition of Strengholt Music Group. The announcement indicates a significant strategic development for the music-rights and publishing operations, although the available reference material does not establish all transaction-completion details for the wider holding company.

Strengholt’s documented history begins in 1928, when the company was established as a publisher of books and magazines. Publishing remained the foundation of the business, but the company later developed a broader media portfolio. Its expansion reflected the gradual convergence of print publishing, music rights, recorded media, audiovisual distribution, and emerging digital channels. A major organizational milestone came in 1971, when Strengholt moved its head office from Amsterdam’s Leidsegracht to Naarden. The new base was the Oud-Bussem Hofstede, a historic complex built between 1903 and 1906. The property, known for its extensive thatched roof and architectural importance, became a distinctive physical home for the group and is now a listed building. Music became one of Strengholt’s most important areas. Strengholt Music Group developed into a substantial independent music publisher in the Benelux, working with copyright leasing, administration, sheet-music publication, distribution, and representation of domestic and foreign publishing houses. Its catalogue combined Dutch repertoire with international works and included material connected to pop, dance, folk, schlager, and other popular genres. The group also became associated with Dureco, an established Dutch record-label business. This gave Strengholt exposure to both musical-composition rights and recorded-music catalogues. The company continued to broaden its media activities through several specialist divisions. Strengholt Entertainment focused on sales, marketing, and distribution of consumer media, including CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray products, games, and accessories. Strengholt MultiMedia built a catalogue of special-interest DVDs and Blu-ray discs, with subjects ranging from sport and documentaries to history, culture, nature, television, travel, and royalty. Projects involving Dutch broadcast archives and historical footage included collaborations with the Netherlands Broadcasting Foundation and the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. European Music Centre extended the group’s role in sheet-music publishing and distribution. It published songbooks and music materials while representing a broad range of Dutch and international publishers. The book-publishing side, represented by Strengholt’s Books and Strengholt United Media, maintained a varied fiction and nonfiction list. Its subject areas included health, esoteric and parapsychological themes, history, politics, management, media, nature, children’s and young-adult works, music, cooking, biographies, and novels. Strengholt later added activities connected with content marketing and digital production. Strengholt Content developed sponsored formats for television and new media, seeking to integrate advertisers’ products and services into attention-oriented programming. Its work included Beauty+, a beauty-focused magazine and television programme broadcast by RTL4. Strengholt Magazines handled magazine publishing around related specialist subjects, while Strengholt Connect offered web development, web-shop development, and online-marketing services. The latter was involved in the digital development of Free Record Shop, a retailer that went bankrupt in 2014. In July 2023, CTM Outlander announced an agreement or intended transaction to acquire Strengholt Music Group. That development points to a possible change in ownership or strategic control of the group’s music-publishing and rights business. The available material does not provide enough information to state that the transaction was completed, nor does it establish the resulting ownership structure of all Strengholt Holding activities.

• 2023

  CTM Outlander announces acquisition of Strengholt Music Group

  [1]Strengholt Holdingen.wikipedia.org

  CTM Outlander announces that it will acquire Strengholt Music Group; completion and the full transaction scope are not established by the available material.

• 2014

  Free Record Shop enters bankruptcy

  [1]Strengholt Holdingen.wikipedia.org

  Free Record Shop goes bankrupt after Strengholt Connect had contributed to its website and web-shop development.

• 1971

  Head office moves to Oud-Bussem Hofstede

  [1]Strengholt Holdingen.wikipedia.org

  Strengholt relocates its headquarters from Leidsegracht in Amsterdam to the historic Oud-Bussem Hofstede in Naarden.

• 1928

  Strengholt begins as a book and magazine publisher

  [1]Strengholt Holdingen.wikipedia.org

  The company’s publishing business is established, forming the historical foundation of Strengholt Holding.

An independent Dutch media group combining rights management, music publishing, recorded-media exploitation, specialist publishing, physical-media distribution, branded content, and digital services.

• Music publishing and rights administration

  Strengholt Music Group

  Strengholt Music Group publishes and distributes sheet music, leases and administers copyrights, and represents selected Dutch and international publishing catalogues. Its repertoire includes popular songs and works associated with artists and composers such as Chuck Berry, Jan Smit, Ferry Corsten, Showtek, Markus Schulz, Paul Elstak, and others. It has been described as one of the larger independent music publishers in the Benelux.

• Record label and recorded-music catalogue

  Dureco

  Dureco is one of the Netherlands’ older record-label businesses and is associated with Strengholt’s recorded-music activities. The catalogue includes Dutch popular-music recordings linked with artists such as Vader Abraham, Corry & de Rekels, Jacques Herb, Intwine, Anita Meyer, Mieke, and Benny Neyman. Strengholt has been involved in leasing and exploiting recorded-music productions through this business.

• Media distribution

  Strengholt Entertainment

  Strengholt Entertainment handles the sale, marketing, and distribution of consumer media products. Its assortment includes DVDs, Blu-ray discs, CDs, games, and media accessories, placing the division between rights holders, producers, retailers, and consumers in the physical-media market.

• Special-interest audiovisual publishing

  Strengholt MultiMedia

  Strengholt MultiMedia publishes special-interest DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Its catalogue covers sport, documentaries, lifestyle, culture, travel, films, war, music, royalty, television, nature, animals, and historical subjects. Sports and Dutch history are important areas, with projects produced in collaboration with public-media and audiovisual-archive organizations.

• Sheet-music publishing and distribution

  European Music Centre

  European Music Centre publishes and distributes sheet music across multiple genres. It also issues songbooks connected with well-known Dutch performers and represents national and international music publishers. Its role combines editorial production with specialist distribution to the music-retail and educational markets.

• Book publishing · 1928

  Strengholt's Books and Strengholt United Media

  The book-publishing operation is Strengholt’s oldest line of business. Its list spans fiction and nonfiction, including health, esotericism, history, politics, management, media, nature, children’s books, music, culinary subjects, biographies, and novels. The business has published Dutch translations of internationally known works as well as practical music titles.

• Beauty magazine and sponsored television content

  Beauty+

  Beauty+ is a specialist beauty-media property covering cosmetic treatments, skin and hair care, anti-aging, and wellness. The brand has appeared as a magazine and as a weekly RTL4 television programme. Medical specialists contribute to the publication, while the associated television format incorporates advertisers and sponsors from the beauty sector.

• Digital services and online marketing

  Strengholt Connect

  Strengholt Connect provides digital and marketing services, including website development, web-shop creation, and online-marketing management. The division worked on the digital presence of Free Record Shop and represents Strengholt’s expansion into technology-supported commercial services beyond conventional publishing and media distribution.

• Beauty+ sponsored content format

  Netherlands

  Strengholt Content developed Beauty+ as a sponsored television and media format focused on beauty, cosmetic treatments, skincare, hair care, anti-aging, and wellness. The programme was broadcast by RTL4 and was designed to provide advertisers and sponsors with integrated exposure around a specialist editorial subject.

  Outcome. The format became part of Strengholt’s content and magazine portfolio; a specific campaign performance result is not reported in the available material.

  Source

• 2023

  Announced sale of Strengholt Music Group to CTM OutlanderM&A

  Background

  Strengholt Music Group controls or administers music-publishing, copyright, and recorded-music interests with Dutch and international relevance. CTM Outlander announced an acquisition in July 2023.

  Action taken

  CTM Outlander announced that it would acquire Strengholt Music Group.

  Aftermath

  The available source does not confirm closing, consideration, post-transaction management, or whether other Strengholt Holding divisions were included.

  Source

1. 1Strengholt Holdingen.wikipedia.org