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Secretly Wins Record of The Year, Inaugural Publisher of The Year & More at 2024 Libera Awards, Honoring Angel Olsen, Mitski, Secretly Publishing & Label Teams

Billboard's 2024 Indie Power Players Features Eight Executives Across Secretly Group & Secretly Distribution

Secretly Wins Record of The Year, Inaugural Publisher of The Year & More at 2024 Libera Awards, Honoring Angel Olsen, Mitski, Secretly Publishing & Label Teams

Secretly is proud to congratulate the artists, record labels and affiliated companies who together earned several top honors at last night's A2IM Libera Awards, including Record of The Year for Mitski's The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (Dead Oceans), the ceremony's inaugural Publisher of The Year award for Secretly Publishing, and Best Singer-Songwriter Record for Angel Olsen's Forever Means (Jagjaguwar). Taking place at Gotham Hall in New York City, the year's largest celebration of independent music also featured a performance from first-time Secretly and All Flowers Group nominee Kari Faux (drink sum wtr), while Secretly Distribution's partners at Asthmatic Kitty Records and Single Lock Records respectively took home prizes for Best Folk Record (Javelin, Sufjan Stevens) and Best Spiritual Record (Echoes of the South, Blind Boys of Alabama). 

Kicking off A2IM's annual Indie Week conference, the Libera Awards arrived alongside Billboard's publication of the 2024 Indie Power Players, recognizing a collective eight executives across Secretly Group and Secretly Distribution: Ben Swanson (Co-Founder/COO, Secretly Group), Chris Swanson (Co-Founder/President of A&R, Secretly Group), Phil Waldorf (Co-Founder/Chief Marketing Officer, Secretly Group), Robby Morris (VP of Creative, Secretly Group), Jessica Park (Global Label Director, Secretly Group), Emily Puterbaugh (Director of Streaming & Digital Sales, Secretly Group), Darius Van Arman (CEO, Secretly Distribution) and Chris Welz (COO, Secretly Distribution). 

"Being indie means working collaboratively with artists to understand and support their vision," as Jessica Park told Billboard. "Authenticity is essential to respecting their music and connecting with their fanbases." Chris Welz adds that it's about "prioritizing creative autonomy, and the commitment to supporting artists at every level."

As Indie Week continues, Emily Puterbaugh will speak at a Spotify for Artists Masterclass, with Secretly executives Anna Bond (Director of Planning & Initiatives, Secretly Distribution), Ashley Hoffman (Social & Video Accounts Manager, Secretly Distribution) and Hannah Carlen (Senior Director of Marketing & Communications, Secretly Group) participating in panels about leadership and advancing a career, boosting music video impact and harmony with long-form content, empowering independent retailers and overcoming data collection challenges.

 

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, and All Flowers Group (drink sum wtr, Ghostly International). 

 

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, Chrysalis, Sacred Bones, Touch & Go, Moshi Moshi, Bayonet, DFA, Run For Cover, Big Crown, Colemine, Nyege Nyege Tapes, Jazz Is Dead, ZZK, Secretly-affiliated labels Dead Oceans, drink sum wtr, Ghostly International, Jagjaguwar, Secretly Canadian, and the Numero Group - and so many more.

 

About Secretly Publishing

Secretly Publishing prioritizes transparency and remains tireless in their work to cultivate the careers of burgeoning songwriters, canonize catalogs that merit a permanent place in history, and maximize the value of music creators through fair and dynamic dealmaking. Secretly Publishing represents over 30,000 musical works, ranging from songs by independent artists such as Japanese Breakfast, Faye Webster, Grizzly Bear, Kishi Bashi, Leith Ross, Asha Imuno, Panchiko, Jorge Elbrecht, Dehd, Sammy Rae & The Friends, Daywave, Luke Titus, Molly Lewis, Wild Nothing, Poolside, Molchat Doma, Jason Molina, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Lonnie Holley and Whitney, as well as the publishing catalogs of affiliates Songs of Numero Group (Duster, Syl Johnson, Durand Jones and the Indications, Pastor TL Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir, Unwound, and more) and Ghostly Songs (works by Tycho, Mary Lattimore, Shigeto, Matthew Dear, Dabrye, and more). Secretly Publishing represents writer shares on songs performed by Solange, J Cole, Common, Pusha T, Lizzo, Maggie Rogers, Vampire Weekend, Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, Kanye West, Phantogram and more.

For more information, contact Matt Hanks or Greg Jakubik at Shore Fire Media,

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