Merge Records

Secretly Group has announced a partnership with Merge Records as the veteran indie label’s co-founder and co-president exits the business.
The announcement sees Secretly co-founders Ben Swanson, Chris Swanson, Darius Van Arman and Phil Waldorf acquiring a 50% stake in the company. Meanwhile, Merge co-founder Mac McCaughan will continue in his role as label president and head of A&R, though co-founder and co-president Laura Ballance will leave the business. 

Other Merge staffers maintain their roles within the company, including label director Christina Rentz, Merge marketing director Jamie Beck and head of digital Wilson Fuller.

Merge was founded by MacCaughan and Ballance in North Carolina in 1989 as a means of independently releasing music made by those within their immediate circle of friends. This included groups such as MacCaughan’s Bricks and Wwax, alongside Metal Pitcher and Superchunk, which both featured MacCaughan and Ballance as members.

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Merge would attract plenty of attention throughout the ’90s and ’00s thanks to releases by bands such as Neutral Milk Hotel, The Magnetic Fields and Arcade Fire, with the latter proving to be a breakout success in the new millennium, giving the label their first appearance on the Billboard 200 with 2004’s Funeral, and first chart-topper with 2010’s The Suburbs.

“We continue to be inspired and amazed by the musicians we work with,” MacMcCaughan said in a statement. “I have known many of the people in the Secretly world for decades, and I know that they share Merge’s dedication to artists and getting their music into the hands of as many people as possible. 

“We have seen this in action working with Secretly Distribution’s international team since 2012, and are excited about what the future looks like with the strength and experience of Secretly Distribution working for Merge artists around the world, and now here at home. I know Laura has her own exciting future ahead, and I am excited to continue and expand upon the label we’ve run for 36 years.”

“It was never my goal to start a record label when I was 21 and run it for the rest of my life,” Ballance said of her exit from the company. “I have been doing this for 36 years now. Life is short. There are other things I have always wanted to do: make more art, travel for fun, volunteer more, write a book and lots of other things that being so entrenched in running a business does not allow me to do. 

“Merge Records started as a literal bedroom label, in my bedroom, and lived there for a few years before we were able to give it some space of its own. It has always been a labor of love. I am going to miss it and all the people and bands tremendously.”

“When we heard that Laura was looking to move on from Merge, we immediately engaged in conversations with Mac and Laura about what a new partnership with Secretly could look like,” explained Waldorf, Secretly co-founder.

“We looked up to Merge as we started our labels. We are not just fans of the music they’ve released, but their independent ethos and commitment to being an artist-first company,” he added. “Becoming a partner in Merge is beyond a dream for me – I saw Superchunk for the first time when I was a teenager, before I even knew you could have a full-time job in independent music, and attended Merge’s 5th Anniversary celebration at the Cat’s Cradle while I was a college student in Athens, GA, making this a real ‘pinch me’ moment three decades later.”

As MacMcCaughan noted, Merge has already been working with Secretly Group’s sister company Secretly Distribution for marketing and distribution services outside of North America for over a decade now. As part of the new partnership, Merge will continue to operate as a standalone label based in Durham, NC, while utilizing Secretly Distribution’s worldwide distribution arm and aspects of the Secretly ecosystem such as accounting, artist royalties, business affairs, licensing, IT and HR.

“Our aim is to support Merge with the independent ecosystem we’ve built at Secretly, while preserving what’s truly special about what Mac and Laura have built over the past 36 years, such that we can support Merge’s growth in the decades to come,” added Swanston, Secretly Co-Founder. 

The first new album to be released following this partnership, and the first to be distributed worldwide by Secretly, will fittingly be Superchunk’s Songs in the Key of Yikes, which is scheduled for an Aug. 22 release.