Secretly's 2024 In Review: 10 Key Highlights From Secretly Group (Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar, Saddest Factory Records, Secretly Canadian), All Flowers Group (drink sum wtr, Ghostly International), Secretly Publishing & Numero Group
It's the end of 2024, and the music of Secretly artists can be found on "Best Of" lists from every major publication, recaps of the year's biggest GRAMMY® surprises, your coolest friend's Spotify Wrapped, numerous Billboard charts and beyond. Encompassing Secretly Group (Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar, Saddest Factory Records, Secretly Canadian), All Flowers Group (drink sum wtr, Ghostly International), Numero Group, Secretly Publishing and Secretly Distribution, Secretly represents an ecosystem that is continually shaping independent music, setting precedents and proving that the culture's most important contributions come from artists and the small to medium-sized businesses that support them.
So many of Secretly's noteworthy achievements arrived at different points all throughout the year, from every one of its affiliate companies, and will keep influencing the industry well into 2025. See below for 10 Key Highlights, and stay tuned for Secretly Distribution's own Top 10 to follow:
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1. Power Players
In 2024, Secretly executives were recognized by Billboard for the impact their work has made on the music industry. For the first time, the 40 Under 40 list featured Job Coombs (VP of A&R), while Women in Music highlighted Jessica Park (Global Label Director). International Power Players included Chloé van Bergen (VP of Operations for UK & Europe), and Indie Power Players honored Ben Swanson (Co-Founder/COO), Chris Swanson (Co-Founder/President of A&R), Phil Waldorf (Co-Founder/Chief Marketing Officer), Robby Morris (VP of Creative), Jessica Park (Global Label Director) and Emily Puterbaugh (Director of Streaming & Digital Sales).
2. Dead Oceans' Best New Artist Streak
Following the label's Best New Artist nominations for Phoebe Bridgers and Japanese Breakfast, Dead Oceans heightened its GRAMMY® hot streak with a 2025 nod for Khruangbin. Khruangbin is the third Dead Oceans artist in just five years to receive Best New Artist recognition, a reflection of the label and artists' remarkable growth and impact with audiences.
3. Chill Viral Hits
Anyone who has opened TikTok in the last few weeks has heard Gia Margeret's "Hinoki Wood": soaring to #2 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, with more than 250,000 TikTok posts and 250,000-350,000 Spotify streams per day, the song has soundtracked the viral "chill guy" trend. As a fan favorite of the artist's latest album release with Jagjaguwar, the track slowly grew through word of mouth and Instagram Reels, gaining new fans and eventually skyrocketing with mashups of Timothée Chalamet's Little Women quotes and so much more. Secretly Canadian's Faye Webster also landed on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 this summer with "I Know You," all on the heels of Dead Oceans' and Mitski's chart-topping, record-setting reign with "My Love Mine All Mine" in 2023.
4. Fresh Breakouts
While this year saw the return of Bon Iver, Bright Eyes, Sharon Van Etten, Toro y Moi and other indie icons, Secretly Group largely made way for new breakouts across each of its label rosters: Jensen McRae, MRCY, Greg Mendez and Scowl on Dead Oceans, Chanel Beads and Mustafa on Jagjaguwar; Katie Gavin and jasmine.4.t on Saddest Factory Records; Baby Rose and Mereba on Secretly Canadian.
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5. All Flowers Waters Its Soil
In just its second year of operations, All Flowers Group continued leading both of its affiliate labels – Ghostly International and drink sum wtr – through the "same soil, water, and sun" approach that has fostered the longtime, collective success of Secretly Group. Exemplified by breakthrough projects from drink sum wtr's Annahstasia and THEY., as well as Ghostly's Ginger Root, All Flowers Group expanded its commitment to the type of artist development and legacy-building that's overlooked in the algorithm-saturated, trend-driven era of music. Functioning at the joints of genre, All Flowers maintained an ever-prolific release schedule, defined by quality, integrity and individuality.
6. Ghostly Turns 25
This year marked Ghostly International's 25th Anniversary as a bellwether for the marriage of art, music and product. The label launched a reissue series bringing catalog classics from Matthew Dear, HTRK, Gold Panda, and Shigeto back into circulation alongside cult favorites beyond the roster, like Emeralds and Studio. Since it began in founder Sam Valenti IV's Michigan dorm room in 1999, Ghostly has grown into a multi-platform cabal representing the world's best visual artists, designers, technologists, and musicians. From Tycho to Mary Lattimore to Dua Saleh and Kate Bollinger, Ghostly functions at the joints of genre. Past collaborations include [adult swim], Carhartt, Timex, Vans, and Warby Parker. The current shape of the industry bears Ghostly's fingerprints, and there's even more to look towards for its evolving future.
7. drink sum wtr carves its lane
Having earned a GRAMMY® nomination for aja monet's debut album, and grown nearly twofold in its inaugural year, drink sum wtr further reasserted and redefined the record label concept in 2024. Defying the self-distribution model of late, the company welcomed new artists such as THEY., Annahstasia, Seafood Sam, Halima and JEMS!, and celebrated its first Libera Award nomination for Kari Faux.
8. Secretly Publishing Wins Big
This summer, Secretly Publishing took home the inaugural trophy for Publisher of The Year at the 2024 Libera Awards, honoring their mission to prioritize transparency, and remain 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 also signed new deals with NEIL FRANCES, Galdive, MAVI, Tamino, Abby Sage, KAMAUU, Frex, ivri, Asha Imuno, and reupped their contract with Molchat Doma (in partnership with Sacred Bones Publishing), while forging new B2B relationships through partnerships with Deep Matter Publishing and Good Bones Music Publishing.
Secretly Publishing's 2024 sync placements landed songwriters and artists in campaigns with Adidas, Amazon, Apple, Coinbase, Eli Lilly, GAP, Grey Goose, Google, Netflix's Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul boxing special and Tom Brady's Greatest Roast of All Time, PTSB Bank, T-Mobile, Tanqueray, The Farmer's Dog, Toyota, Wal-Mart and many more (find an even longer list of film and TV placements HERE). Additionally, having expanded their direct administration capabilities to the UK, Secretly Publishing is entering 2025 poised for further growth and global expansion.
9. More Precious Lost Catalogs
As detailed in an extensive feature with The New York Times, Numero Groupunderscored its 2024 through an expansive new partnership with The Lijadu Sisters. With a revelatory reissue of 1979's Horizon Unlimited came the launch of a multi-year, multi-record campaign to finally bring the duo's entire discography to the masses. Numero Group also announced a partnership with NYC's Tiger Style Records, revitalizing the label's catalog of pinnacle works by pioneering indie rock acts, while issuing landmark new recordings from Duster (In Dreams) and Karate (Make It Fit). Furthermore, the company cleared samples for major artists ranging from Drake to TV Girl, expanded into a plushie product line, hosted pop-up events in London, the Netherlands and across the West Coast, consolidated synch teams and strengthened its business, and widened staff's remit to include Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia.
10. 90 Day Men, 14th GRAMMY® Nom
Congratulations to Rebeka Arce and Farbod Kokabi, whose art direction on The 90 Day Men: We Blame Chicago earned a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. The boxset marked Arce and Kokabi's Numero Group design debut, and brings Numero's collective GRAMMY® total to 14 nominations. Numero also rolled out successful box sets from American Analog Set, Boy's Life, Margo Guryan and Tsunami in 2024.
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