Secretly Distribution has acquired Babel Ops, the know-how firm behind music information and analytics platform Leisure Intelligence (Ei).
The deal, introduced on Wednesday (April 8), brings each corporations underneath the possession of the impartial distributor, which says Babel Ops will proceed to serve its current consumer base of impartial labels and music companies.
Babel Ops was based in 2020 by Erik Gilbert and Greg Delaney, who beforehand co-founded Leisure Intelligence (Ei) in 2014.
Ei’s Enterlytics platform at the moment powers reporting for greater than 1.2 million artists throughout greater than 55,000 labels, in line with the corporate.
Babel Ops builds bespoke information administration, analytics and royalty processing instruments for impartial music corporations. Its shoppers embody Cargo Impartial Distribution, Harmony, Partisan Information, Reservoir Media, Secret Metropolis, MNRK and Exceleration, amongst others.
The agency is led by a group of 10 builders underneath the management of Gilbert and Delaney, alongside Basic Supervisor Phil Birch and Lead Developer Ryan Berry.
Two longtime Secretly database directors, Ember Wyrdt and Reggie Provine, will be part of Babel Ops underneath the brand new association.
“We imagine independence is one thing you actively construct and shield, not one thing you inherit.”
Greg Delaney and Erik Gilbert, Babel Ops
“We imagine independence is one thing you actively construct and shield, not one thing you inherit,” mentioned Greg Delaney and Erik Gilbert.
“Babel Ops and Ei have been created to present impartial music corporations the technological power to function, develop, and innovate on their very own phrases, particularly because the business consolidates.
“What drew us to Secretly is a genuinely shared ethos: a perception that independence must be supported and strengthened, not absorbed into dominant techniques.”
Darius Van Arman, CEO of Secretly Distribution, framed the acquisition within the context of what he described as rising consolidation and the focus of know-how infrastructure among the many business’s largest corporations.
He mentioned: “At Secretly, we’ve lengthy admired the group behind Babel Ops and Leisure Intelligence, and we share their dedication to offering small and medium-sized corporations with world-class analytics and different instruments.
“We’re proud to have these two corporations as a part of the Secretly ecosystem, not solely to allow them to assist our enterprise, but in addition in order that they will ship world-class work for our friends and rivals.
“It’s not sufficient to safeguard impartial routes to market; you could have entry to market-leading know-how that allows you to compete towards the most important corporations.”
Darius Van Arman
“We imagine that one of the simplest ways to safe our personal independence is to assist the independence of others.”
Writing on LinkedIn in regards to the deal, Van Arman reiterated his stance: “With the rise of generative AI and different latest developments — such because the majors buying digital provide chain corporations like FUGA and Revelator, and Invoice Ackman’s try to accumulate Common Music Group — it’s clear that we’re shifting into a brand new period of market focus and algorithmic management.
“Now, greater than ever, if you wish to keep impartial and assist others keep impartial, you could vigorously shield your capability to do enterprise by yourself phrases, in line with your individual values.
“It’s not sufficient to safeguard impartial routes to market; you could have entry to market-leading know-how that allows you to compete towards the most important corporations.”
Phil Birch, Basic Supervisor of Babel Ops, mentioned in a press launch: “Like SD, Babel Ops is constructed to allow independents to problem the mainstream.
“In our case, it’s by creating know-how instruments that units our shoppers on a degree taking part in area with anybody within the business in terms of information administration and evaluation.”
Babel Ops has maintained a long-standing improvement relationship with Secretly Distribution, together with constructing the distributor’s bespoke repertoire administration system, RIOT, alongside SD Head of Digital Operations Kristian Downs.
The corporate additionally counts Cargo Impartial Distribution — the UK-based distribution firm launched in 2024 by Cargo Information, Secretly Distribution and Beggars Group — amongst its improvement shoppers.
“Working with the Babel Ops to construct the [client] portal has been a very optimistic step,” mentioned Jolan Bangina, Head of Operations at Cargo Impartial Distribution.
“It provides our labels a much more clear view of their bodily releases by means of a stay information feed with hourly updates, providing a degree of visibility that merely hasn’t been obtainable to labels earlier than.”
Jackson Mercer, VP of Platform Operations at Harmony, mentioned: “Babel Ops have been a key accomplice in constructing, sustaining, and evolving two of our crucial source-of-record techniques throughout a time of fast progress at Harmony.
“We see them as an extension of our group and stay up for persevering with to construct nice merchandise collectively.”
The acquisition comes at a time of accelerating consolidation in music’s know-how and distribution infrastructure.
Final week, Warner Music Group entered right into a definitive settlement to accumulate Revelator, the impartial music platform specializing in digital distribution, rights administration and analytics.
Earlier this yr, Common Music Group accomplished its $775 million acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings, together with its FUGA distribution know-how subsidiary. On Tuesday (April 7), Invoice Ackman‘s Pershing Sq. submitted a non-binding proposal to accumulate UMG in a deal valued at roughly $64 billion.
Secretly Distribution’s transfer to deliver Babel Ops in-house represents a unique method: relatively than a significant label group absorbing impartial infrastructure, an impartial distributor is investing in know-how to strengthen its personal operations — and people of its rivals.
Secretly Distribution is the in-house distribution arm of the Bloomington, Indiana-headquartered Secretly Group, which additionally consists of labels similar to Jagjaguwar, Useless Oceans, Secretly Canadian, and the Numero Group.
Secretly Distribution has been on an growth trajectory in latest months, launching an Asia-Pacific division in November 2025 and including label companions together with Jack White‘s Third Man Information and Hayley Williams‘ Put up-Atlantic.
Van Arman, who additionally serves as Chairperson of Merlin, the digital licensing company for impartial music corporations, wrote an op-ed for MBW in February exploring the challenges posed by generative AI to impartial music companies.Music Enterprise Worldwide
