Durham's influential indie music label Merge Records turns 35
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Mac McCaughan of Superchunk and Merge Records. Photo: Mariano Regidor/Redferns
35 years ago, on a road trip with college friends from Seattle to D.C., Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance began hatching the idea of starting their own record label.
- The brainstorming session — coming just before the formation of their iconic indie rock band Superchunk — resulted in one of the most important music institutions in North Carolina: Merge Records.
Why it matters: Durham-based Merge is one of the most influential independent labels in the country, putting out records by bands like Arcade Fire, Spoon, Neutral Milk Hotel and the Magnetic Fields.
- It's also an important incubator of the Triangle's own music scene, bringing its artists through the area's venues and giving local bands like Hiss Golden Messenger, Rosali and H.C. McEntire a launchpad to new audiences.
Driving the news: Many of its artists will be playing in Carrboro this summer at the Merge Festival, an event the label puts on every five years to showcase how it's evolved.
- Merge 35 will begin July 24 at the Cat's Cradle and include performances every day through July 27.
- Find tickets here.
The big picture: In the label's early days, it was just McCaughan and Ballance physically putting together cassettes and 7-inch records in their bedrooms and mailing them across the country.
- Nowadays, McCaughan says, it's about trying to navigate the complexities music streaming has brought to the music business and helping artists stand out among a sea of music that is available on someone's phone for $10.99 per month.
- It's not an easy task. Some years, the label isn't sustainable, he noted.
What they're saying: "What's still great about having a record label is the artists that we get to work with and hearing someone's new album when it's finished," McCaughan told Axios.
- "But, you know, the business of trying to get those bands heard by the most people and trying to sell records enough so that those artists can make a living or even just break even on tour has become really frustrating," he added.
- When Merge started, music magazines could help a band find initial success, but now it feels like you have to go viral on TikTok or another social media platform to move the needle.
McCaughan says it still matters for artists if you go to their shows and see them live and engage with their physical music, whether it's buying a vinyl record or a CD.
- "If you see a band live, that is going to make an impact on you more so than if their song scrolls by you in the playlist that an algorithm put together," he said.
Listen to a playlist of Merge Records artists playing the Merge 35 Festival