Secretly Distribution is opening an office in the Asia-Pacific region and promoting two executives as the independent music distributor expands its international operations.
Max Thomas will lead the new Sydney-based office as head of APAC after spending four years handling marketing and strategy for Secretly Group in the region.
Chris Cannon, based in London, has been promoted to Vice President of International Strategy.
Thomas has run album campaigns in Australia, New Zealand and Asia for artists including Mitski, Bon Iver, Bright Eyes, Japanese Breakfast, Sharon Van Etten and more. The APAC office will focus on supporting artists and labels throughout the region, with Secretly planning to hire a marketing and campaigns manager based in Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile, Cannon played a role in developing Secretly’s Latin American presence and helped launch Cargo Independent Distribution, a venture between Cargo Records, Secretly Distribution and Beggars Group aimed at maintaining an independent route to market for physical music in the UK. That partnership produced a No. 1 album and three top five records in the first half of 2025, said Secretly.
The appointments come as Secretly Distribution, the in-house distribution arm of Secretly Group, adds partners and grows revenue outside its home market. Cannon led the company to 30% revenue growth overseas in the past year across digital and physical music formats, the company said.
Cannon said: “I am thrilled to be leading the charge as Secretly Distribution continues expanding our global footprint to incorporate our new APAC office. As our distributed label roster expands not only in size, but in genre, geography and customer profile, SD continues to adapt accordingly.”
The APAC team will handle priority releases across Secretly’s roster, including Australian labels Chapter Music and Spinning Top, and New Zealand labels Lil’ Chief Records and Flying Nun. The office will also manage relationships with regional distribution partners including Leaplay in Korea, Rocket in Australia, Rhythm Method and Southbound in New Zealand, and Ultra-Vybe in Japan.
“Inspired by our recent success stories in the region and our new local team, we look forward to enhancing our partnerships with the eclectic and incredible labels on the SD roster in order to find their music the global audience it deserves.”
Chris Cannon, Secretly Distribution
Cannon added: “Our existing team has done a remarkable job helping to leverage our releases in key markets such as Australia and Japan for many years. Now with Max Thomas, our incoming Head of Marketing & Campaigns for APAC, at the helm, we can localize our service whilst adopting a proactive approach in response to the organic growth we can see in fast developing markets such as the Philippines, Indonesia and China. The opportunities for collaboration in these markets are vast, and we have only begun to scratch the surface.”
He continued: “Inspired by our recent success stories in the region and our new local team, we look forward to enhancing our partnerships with the eclectic and incredible labels on the SD roster in order to find their music the global audience it deserves.”
Secretly Distribution has been adding label partners in recent months, announcing deals with Jack White’s Third Man Records, Hayley Williams’ Post-Atlantic, and vinyl specialist Org Music. In June,
The distributor’s roster includes Rhymesayers, Captured Tracks, A24 Music, Touch & Go, Moshi Moshi, Bayonet, DFA, Run For Cover, Big Crown, Colemine, Nyege Nyege Tapes, Jazz Is Dead, 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 more.
Music Business Worldwide
