TopNotch

[2] After some commercial success (with rap acts such as De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, The Opposites, Def Rhymz, Postmen, and Extince) it became allied with Virgin EMI Records, and since 2004 has a marketing and distribution deal with PIAS Entertainment Group.

He is credited with "putting Dutch hip-hop on the map" with TopNotch, signing acts such as De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, Extince, and The Opposites.

Initially the label, which released music that didn't automatically receive radio play, used platforms such as YouTube[a] and Hyves to get attention for its artists, and added Instagram and Vine.

[5] In 2009, the label make a distribution and marketing agreement with Universal Music Group (owners of Virgin EMI) and signed a non-hip-hop act, gabber punk band Aux Raus.

[2] That same year the label signed Lucky Fonz III, a Dutch-language singer, in a more comprehensive effort to expand beyond hip-hop which also included signing Surinamese singer Damaru; de Koning had personally pursued the artist, whose monthly performances in the TV show De Wereld Draait Door he admired.