Talk about a “merger.” Secretly Group, the indie label group whose companies include Dead Oceans, Secretly Canadian and Jagjaguwar, has acquired a 50 percent stake in fellow influential indie label Merge Records, the companies announced on Tuesday. Financial details of the new deal weren’t disclosed.
Secretly’s co-founders Ben Swanson, Chris Swanson, Darius Van Arman and Phil Waldorf purchased the stake, while Mac McCaughan, also a member of beloved indie band Superchunk, is expected to remain in his role as label president and head of A&R. Christina Rentz, Merge’s label director, will maintain her current role, the companies said, along with Merge marketing director Jamie Beck and head of digital Wilson Fuller. Merge’s co-founder and co-president Laura Ballance, also bass player in Superchunk, is leaving the music business.
Ballance and McCaughan first founded Merge Records in 1989, and the label became the home of beloved indie classics like Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Arcade Fire’s Funeral and The Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs.
“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 in a statement of her exit. “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.”
As McCaughan said: “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.”
Secretly has become one of the most influential independent music companies in the business, with a roster across its labels that includes Mitzki, Bon Iver, Phoebe Bridgers and Japanese Breakfast, among others. Merge had already been working with Secretly’s distribution arm for a decade prior to the merger. Merge will continue to operate as a standalone label in the Secretly Group, the labels said.
“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,” Secretly co-founder Phil Waldorf said in a statement. “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.”
In a statement, Swanson said Secretly’s goal 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.”
