Secretly Distribution: David Gray, Madlib, Danger Mouse & more

13 December 2023 - Press release

 Secretly Distribution rounds out its 25th Anniversary with the announcement of global deals with Danger Mouse’s 30th Century Records, classic catalog support for beloved singer-songwriter David Gray, and Madlib’s own Madlib Invazion. As a worldwide leader of the independent music industry, each of these multi-year partnerships continues the company’s commitment to ongoing investment and maximal support in elevating independent artists and labels across a vibrant variety of genres, relationships and release models, while further extending a period of major growth in both physical infrastructure and digital mediums.  

With 30th Century Records, Secretly Distribution will support all of the label’s new music and back catalog, including vinyl reissues such as Gnarls Barkley’s multi-platinum St. Elsewhere.  

Secretly Distribution will also work with Bella Figura Music to support key David Graycatalog, including the multi-platinum White Ladder - one of the UK and Ireland’s best-selling albums of all time - with global digital support, and vinyl reissues across the catalog. 

Secretly Distribution will also handle distribution for Madlib and his Madlib Invazion label, with new music from the iconic artist-producer coming in 2024.  

In addition to the newly signed deals with 30th Century Records, David Gray and Madlib Invazion, Secretly Distribution has also announced multi-year contract renewals with three longtime label partners: Captured Tracks (Lemon Twigs, Mac Demarco, Wild Nothing), Rhymesayers Entertainment (Aesop Rock, Atmosphere, MF Doom) and Run for Cover (Citizen, Modern Baseball, Turnover).  

"Rhymesayers is grateful for our continued partnership with Secretly Distribution in helping us provide global reach and growth across our active roster and back catalog,” says David Barnes, COO of Rhymesayers. “Especially in the physical space. This work is essential for our artist partners operating in the independent music landscape." 

Throughout 2023 and its past 25 years, Secretly Distribution has been an increasingly hands-on solution for some of the world’s most revered record labels and visionary artists, offering not only a fully independent path to market, but a boutique service model, and a singular, culture-first vision that stands in contrast to the proliferation of major-owned and scale-oriented distribution platforms and services.  

Led by chart-topping new LPs from artists like Mitski – whose single “My Love Mine All Mine” soared to #2 on Spotify’s Global chart, spent six weeks at #1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, and has helped land her in Spotify’s Top 100 overall artists – as well as Sufjan Stevens (Javelin, Asthmatic Kitty), MF DOOM’s always in-demand MM…FOOD (Rhymesayers/Metalface), the reissued Duster catalog with over half a billion streams (Numero Group), and many more, Secretly Distribution is projected to ship 3.1 million units by the end of 2023. The amount marks a staggering 29% year-over-year increase in physical units shipped, and a total that nearly doubles the company’s annual ship in 2020.  

Secretly Distribution has also experienced a 20% year-over-year streaming increase in 2023, building on a 2022 that saw its distributed repertoire count more than one billion streams per month, and earn more than 50 billion views in TikTok videos. 

To support their growing roster, physical retail account base, demand for physical product, and local-meets-global mindset, Secretly Distribution just opened its new 90,000 square-foot warehouse facility in the company headquarters of Bloomington, IN this fall. With a space that has quadrupled in size, and a Bloomington-based staff that has more than doubled in the past few years, the warehouse is enabling Secretly Distribution to further streamline logistics and facilitate continued growth in-house.  

Having grown up alongside the Secretly Group labels since its start in 1997 – which now include Secretly Canadian (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Jagjaguwar (Bon Iver, Sharon Van Etten),Dead Oceans (Khruangbin, Japanese Breakfast, Mitski), and Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records (MUNA) – Secretly Distribution has partnered with hundreds of independent labels, management teams and artists, its work guided by its ethos of empowering and elevating small and medium-sized businesses on a global scale. 

Throughout 2023, Secretly Distribution also signed a label services deal with Academy Award-nominated, Grammy-nominated and Emmy-winning composer, pianist and producer Nicholas Britell (Succession, Moonlight), releasing Succession: Season 4 (HBO Original Series Soundtrack) just hours after the series finale aired. Furthermore, Secretly Distribution announced a global deal with the London-based labels Chrysalis and Moshi Moshi, formed a strategic partnership with independent royalty accounting platform Infinite Catalog, and widened the scope of their work far beyond the “indie” genre base, championing artists alongside partners like drink sum wtr (deem spencer, Kari Faux); soul labels Colemine and Big Crown, reissue mainstays Mississippi Records and Numero Group, as well as electronic stalwart Ghostly International (Tycho, Mary Lattimore) and quickly growing Latin alternative/electronic outfit ZZK (Nicola Cruz, Jackie Mendoza).