Congratulations to Secretly, whose artists, record labels, affiliate companies and partners earned a collective 52 nominations for the 2026 Libera Awards, the premier celebration of independent music. Represented in 27 different categories, the vast scope of recognition reflects the continued expansion of the entire Secretly ecosystem over the past year, and its ongoing commitment to empowering independence. 

Highlights include Record of The Year and Marketing Genius nominations for Wednesday's Bleeds, of Secretly Group's Dead Oceans, Label of The Year nominations for All Flowers Group's Ghostly International and Sacred Bones Records, Merge Records and eight of Secretly Distribution's label partners, nominations across R&B, Singer/Songwriter and Soul/Funk for Yaya Bey, Annahstasia and Say She She of All Flowers Group's drink sum wtr, Secretly Distribution's third consecutive nomination for Distributor of The Year, and Secretly Publishing's third consecutive nomination for Publisher of The Year.

Also leading the 2026 Libera Awards is Hayley Williams and her label venture Post Atlantic, whose partnership with Secretly Distribution's Label & Shared Services team has resulted in nods for Record of The Year, Self-Released Record of The Year, Best Rock Record and Marketing Genius. 

Additionally, Secretly Distribution is proud to congratulate Third Man Records, Captured Tracks, Run For Cover, Bayonet Records, Colemine Records, Oh Boy Records, Psychic Hotline, RVNG Intl, Smalltown Supersound and Rhymesayers Entertainment, who together received a total of 25 nominations for Label of The Year, and genres ranging from classical to hip-hop, jazz, latin, punk, reissue, sync usage, creative packaging and more.

Presented by Merlin, the 2026 Libera Awards take place on Monday, June 8, 2026 at the renowned Gotham Hall in New York City, honoring independent musicians and the teams that support them, and recognizing the powerful voice of the independent sector that is often unacknowledged in mainstream media. Find the full list of Secretly nominations below.

2026 LIBERA AWARDS, SECRETLY NOMINATIONS

LABEL OF THE YEAR (15+ employees)

Ghostly International

Merge Records

Sacred Bones Records

Third Man Records

LABEL OF THE YEAR (6-14 employees)

Captured Tracks

Run For Cover Records

LABEL OF THE YEAR (5 or fewer employees)

Bayonet Records

Colemine Records

Oh Boy Records

Psychic Hotline

RVNG Intl

RECORD OF THE YEAR

Hayley Williams - Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party (Post Atlantic)

Wednesday - Bleeds (Dead Oceans)

SELF-RELEASED RECORD OF THE YEAR

Hayley Williams - Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party (Post Atlantic)

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Die Spitz - "Throw Yourself to the Sword" (Third Man Records)

Wednesday - "Elderberry Wine" (Dead Oceans)

BEST CLASSICAL RECORD

Kara-Lis Coverdale - A Series of Actions in a Sphere of Forever (Smalltown Supersound)

BEST DANCE RECORD

Sextile - Yes, Please (Sacred Bones Records)

BEST FOLK RECORD

Folk Bitch Trio - Now Would Be a Good Time (Jagjaguwar)

BEST HEAVY RECORD

Die Spitz - Something to Consume (Third Man Records)

BEST HIP-HOP RECORD

Aesop Rock - Black Hole Superette (Rhymesayers Entertainment)

billy woods - GOLLIWOG (backwoodz studioz / Rhymesayers Entertainment)

BEST JAZZ RECORD

Mei Seimones - Animaru (Bayonet Records)

BEST LATIN RECORD

Juan Wauters - MVD LUV (Captured Tracks)

BEST OUTLIER RECORD

Khruangbin - The Universe Smiles Upon You ii (Dead Oceans)

William Tyler - Time Indefinite (Psychic Hotline)

BEST PUNK RECORD

Scowl - Are We All Angels (Dead Oceans)

Snööper - Worldwide (Third Man Records)

BEST R&B RECORD

Dawn Richard - A Flex (Merge Records)

Yaya Bey - do it afraid (drink sum wtr)

BEST RECORD FROM GAMES & INTERACTIVE MEDIA

C418 - Minecraft: Alpha + Beta Box Set (Ghostly International)

BEST REISSUE

MF DOOM - Special Herbs (Rhymesayers Entertainment)

Sister Irene O'Connor - Fire of God's Love (Freedom To Spend / RVNG Intl)

BEST REMIX

Reyna Tropical / Amantes del Futuro - "Conocerla" (Psychic Hotline)

BEST ROCK RECORD

Hayley Williams - Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party (Post Atlantic)

Wednesday - Bleeds (Dead Oceans)

BEST SINGER/SONGWRITER RECORD

Annahstasia - Tether (drink sum wtr)

Ichicko Aoba - Luminiscent Creatures (Psychic Hotline)

Mei Semones - Animaru (Bayonet Records)

BEST SOUL/FUNK RECORD

Durand Jones & The Indications - Flowers (Dead Oceans)

Say She She - Cut & Remind (drink sum wtr)

DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR

Secretly Distribution

PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR 

Secretly Publishing

MARKETING GENIUS

Hayley Williams - Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party (Post Atlantic)

MF DOOM - Special Herbs (Rhymesayers Entertainment)

Wednesday - Bleeds (Dead Oceans)

We'll Never Stop Living This Way: A Ghostly International Catalogue (Ghostly International)

BEST SYNC USAGE

John Prine – "In Spite of Ourselves" / Die My Love (Oh Boy Records)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – "Burning" / Lucid (Secretly Canadian)

BEST CREATIVE PACKAGING

Bon Iver – SABLE, fABLE (Jagjaguwar)

John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies – Halloween: The Complete Expanded Collection (Sacred Bones Records)

MF DOOM – Special Herbs (Rhymesayers Entertainment)

About Secretly

Secretly is a group of affiliated music and culture companies that includes Secretly Group (Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar, Saddest Factory Records, Secretly Canadian), The Numero Group, Secretly Distribution, Secretly Publishing, All Flowers Group (drink sum wtr, Ghostly International, Sacred Bones Records) and Merge Records. 

About Secretly Distribution

For more than 25 years, Secretly Distribution (SD) has been enabling independents to challenge the mainstream. SD is not only a full-service global physical and digital music distributor, but it also provides hands-on marketing, financial and technological support to some of the most exciting record labels and artists across geographies and genres. By supporting businesses who are self-reliant by choice, not just necessity, SD champions the musicians and creative works that drive culture forward.

Among SD's partners are Rhymesayers, Captured Tracks, A24 Music, Touch & Go, Moshi Moshi, Bayonet, Third Man Records, Ipecac Recordings, DFA, Run For Cover, Big Crown, Colemine, Nyege Nyege Tapes, Jazz Is Dead, Ubiquity, Org Music Oh Boy Records, ZZK, Secretly-affiliated labels Dead Oceans, drink sum wtr, Ghostly International, Merge Records, Sacred Bones, Jagjaguwar, Secretly Canadian and the Numero Group – and so many more.

For more information, please contact Matt Hanks or Greg Jakubik at Shore Fire Media, 718-522-7171