Rich Thane has been appointed as associate director of artist & label strategy at Secretly Distribution, as the company expands its UK and EU Operations.
Based in London, Thane has arrived at Secretly Distribution following an eight-year tenure at Warner Music Group, where he rose to senior director of global playlist strategy. He led teams across London, New York and LA, while being responsible for multi-million pounds of annual revenue
Thane also launched The Line of Best Fit, building the music magazine into a record label, promotions agency and annual five-day music festival focused on championing rising talent. In addition, he held a variety of positions at Eventim, Billetto and Amazon, where he consulted on curation for the launch of its Prime Music streaming service.
Working closely with US-based Josh Madell, director of artist and label strategy at Secretly Distribution, Thane will be growing the company’s client base with independent record labels throughout the UK/EU, as well as forming label services agreements with management firms, artist estates and more.
Secretly Distribution provides global support to international partners such as Chrysalis, Moshi Moshi, PAN, PMR, Smalltown Supersound and Timmion.
“I’ve been a huge fan and supporter of Secretly Group and their respective labels for many, many years,” said Rich Thane. “So to be able to join them at such an exciting time of growth is a dream to me. In this industry, it’s harder than it should be to find like-minded people who care so deeply about music, and that’s something I’ve always admired about Secretly’s ethos and approach to their artists and label partners. To be given the chance to make a true difference to independent music is something that I do not take for granted.”
Rich’s passion for and knowledge of independent labels and artists is unparalleled
Josh Madell
“Rich’s passion for and knowledge of independent labels and artists is unparalleled, and he comes to Secretly Distribution with a wealth of close personal connections across the global music community,” said Josh Madell. “Add to this his deep understanding of modern playlisting strategy, and it’s hard to imagine someone better suited to this role, as Secretly leans into our global growth. We could not be more excited to have Rich guiding our continued investment in the vibrant UK and EU independent music ecosystem.”
Secretly Distribution shipped more than 3.1 million units in 2023, increasing the physical business by 29% and 20% at streaming. The company opened a new 90,000 square-foot warehouse facility, and it has earned a nomination for Distributor of The Year at the upcoming Libera Awards.
Successes so far in 2024 include the Hazbin Hotel soundtrack for label services client A24, which has amassed over half a billion streams since January. Secretly Distribution is also working on the Talking Heads tribute album, Everyone’s Getting Involved, featuring Paramore, Miley Cyrus, Lorde and Teezo Touchdown.
The team have also launched catalogue services with David Gray, Madlib and Danger Mouse’s 30th Century Records, and they are currently working on upcoming releases from Crumb, Dr. Dog, Guster, Pond and more.
PHOTO CREDIT: Martyn Goddard
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