Secretly Group has formed a new partnership with Merge Records.
Under the terms of the deal, Secretly co-founders Ben Swanson, Chris Swanson, Darius Van Arman and Phil Waldorf have acquired a 50% stake in the company.
Merge co-founder Mac McCaughan continues in his role as label president and head of A&R, while co-founder and co-president Laura Ballance is leaving the business.
Longtime Merge label director Christina Rentz maintains her role, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the label, along with marketing director Jamie Beck and head of digital Wilson Fuller.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989 by Ballance and McCaughan (pictured), when they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Merge Records grew from supporting their band’s music into being an influential independent record label. It is home to Grammywinning artists and a catalogue of releases from Neutral Milk Hotel, Lambchop, The Magnetic Fields, The Clean, Waxahatchee and many more. It has championed new albums by artists like Caribou, Fruit Bats and Destroyer.
“We continue to be inspired and amazed by the musicians we work with,” said Mac McCaughan. “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 am excited to continue and expand upon the label we’ve run for 36 years
Mac McCaughan
“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,” he added:
Laura Ballance said: “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 labour 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.”
Secretly co-founders Phil Waldorf, Darius Van Arman, Ben Swanson and Chris Swanson (credit: Anna Powell-Teeter)
Waldorf 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 fifth anniversary celebration at the Cat’s Cradle while I was a college student in Athens, Georgia, making this a real ‘pinch me’ moment three decades later.”
Prior to this new partnership, Merge has been working closely for over a decade with Secretly Group’s sister company Secretly Distribution for marketing and distribution services outside of North America.
I am going to miss it and all the people and bands tremendously
Laura Ballance
Merge will continue to run as a standalone label out of Durham, North Carolina, while utilising Secretly Distribution’s worldwide distribution arm and aspects of the Secretly ecosystem such as accounting, artist royalties, business affairs, licensing, IT and HR.
Superchunk’s forthcoming Songs In The Key Of Yikes, out August 22, 2025, is the first new album on the Merge label to be distributed worldwide by Secretly, with more to be announced soon.
“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,” said Ben Swanson, Secretly co-founder.
PHOTO: Mac McCaughan and Christina Rentz (credit: Colette Arrand)
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