Songtrust and Secretly Publishing ink new administrative partnership

Kathy Cook

Downtown Music Holdings-owned royalty collection platform Songtrust and Secretly Publishing have inked a new administrative partnership.

Songtrust will now be administering the full music catalog of Secretly Publishing, including the catalogs of affiliates Ghostly Songs and The Songs of Numero Group, for royalty collections outside of the United States and Canada.

Secretly’s catalog consists of more than 20,000 musical works, with the publisher representing artists such as Kishi Bashi, Faye Webster, The War on Drugs, Beirut, Grizzly Bear, Jay Som, Durand Jones & The Indications, and Jason Molina, as well as songs recorded by Maggie Rogers, Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, Phantogram, and many more.

Secretly Group, in addition to Secretly Publishing, includes record labels Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian. Other affiliates of Secretly Publishing include The Numero Group and Ghostly International.

Secretly Publishing, whose prior overseas publishing administrator was Kobalt, has been in a steady period of growth since a reorganization in late 2018 and was recently named to the National Music Publishers’ Association’s list of top 100 music publishers in the United States.

Songtrust’s publishing royalty collection network spans more than 215 countries and territories, brings on Secretly Publishing to a client roster that includes publishers Sub Pop Publishing, ZJs Music Publishing (Average Joes Entertainment), and Songtrust sister company, Downtown Music Publishing.

On the songwriter and artist side, Songtrust’s clients include Jeremy Zucker, Lele Pons, Vulfpeck, Morgan Page, and Tessa Violet.

As an open-access platform for global music publishing royalty collection, Songtrust enables more than 300,000 of its songwriters and music rights holders to collect the royalties owed to them.

“With Songtrust looking after overseas administration and promising thorough collections from every corner of the globe, we can assure Secretly’s writers that data will be clean and no stone will be left unturned.”

Kathleen Cook, Secretly Publishing

Kathleen Cook, Secretly Publishing Managing Director, said: “In the same tradition as the Secretly Group labels, our priority as a publisher is to be a transparent partner for the writers we serve, and advocate for the best possible deals.

“We appreciate that for independent artists, every micropenny counts, and with a small tight-knit team, we are constantly working to improve our systems and find the most efficient approach.

“This new partnership with Songtrust will help us do just that. With Songtrust looking after overseas administration and promising thorough collections from every corner of the globe, we can assure Secretly’s writers that data will be clean and no stone will be left unturned.”

“I’m thrilled to be working with Kathy and the Secretly Publishing team on administering their tremendous catalog.”

Anna Bond, Songtrust

Anna Bond, Senior Director of Global Business Development at Songtrust, added: “I’m thrilled to be working with Kathy and the Secretly Publishing team on administering their tremendous catalog.

“I have long loved and respected what they do, and their mission to push forward the careers of pioneering independent artists is similar to my own.

“By distributing and publishing artists, songwriters, and catalogs that continually push artistic boundaries, Secretly Group and their affiliates have long been a force for creativity and innovation within the independent sector.”Music Business Worldwide