Secretly Group buys ownership stake in Merge Records

Merge Records and Secretly Group have announced a new partnership. Secretly has taken a 50 percent ownership stake in the long-running North Carolina indie label, founded in 1989 by Superchunk‘s Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance. McCaughan will remain label president and head of A&R, while Ballance is leaving the music business. Merge will also retain its other staff, including Label Director Christina Rentz, Marketing Director Jamie Beck, and Head of Digital Wilson Fuller.

“We continue to be inspired and amazed by the musicians we work with,”  McCaughan 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.”

Ballance added, “It was never my goal to start a record label when I was 21 and run it for the rest of my life. 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,” said Secretly Co-Founder Phil Waldorf. “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. 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.”

Prior to Secretly buying a stake in Merge, the two had previously worked together with Secretly Distribution acting as distributor for Merge titles. The first new album to be distributed worldwide through Secretly’s network, which also includes its accounting, artist royalties, business affairs, licensing, IT and HR departments, is Superchunk’s upcoming album, Songs in the Key of Yikes.

Ben Swanson, co-founder of Secretly, also added, “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.”

Merge has an extensive catalog of indie classics that includes albums by Superchunk, Waxahatchee, Destroyer, Neutral Milk Hotel, Lambchop, Spoon and more. Read our list of 30 Essential Merge Records Songs.