Merge Records, the Chapel Hill-based independent label founded by Superchunk‘s Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance in 1989, has formed a partnership with the Secretly Group who own Secretly Canadian, Jagjaguwar, and Saddest Factory. (Merge has used Secretly Group’s sister company, Sister Distribution, outside the US for over a decade.) Secretly has acquired a 50% stake in Merge; McCaughan will continue as Merge’s Label President and Head of A&R, while Ballance is leaving the music business. Merge Label Director Christina Rentz will stay on in her role of managing day-to-day activities, as will Marketing Director Jamie Beck and Head of Digital Wilson Fuller.
Over the years, Merge’s roster has included Spoon, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Magnetic Fields, Destroyer, Caribou, The Clean, Arcade Fire, Lambchop, She & Him, New Pornographers, Hollie Cook, and more.
“We continue to be inspired and amazed by the musicians we work with,” says 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 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.”
Says Ballance, “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.”
Secretly Co-Founder Phil Waldorf says, “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. 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.”
Meanwhile, Superchunk will release new album Songs in the Key of Yikes on August 22 via Merge, and you can preorder our exclusive, limited edition Green Edition of the album, featuring alternate cover art and green smoke vinyl, in the BV shop.