There's been precious little good news about the record industry in recent years, which makes the story of local label Merge Records all the more heartwarming. The label is marking its 20-year anniversary this month with a series of events, some of which you can read about in a feature in Sunday's paper.
Even though Merge has made Billboard's top-10 more than once, it's still a small business where networking counts for something. Ivan Howard of Merge act Rosebuds recalls how his band wound up signed to Merge, via an interaction with co-owner Mac McCaughan.
"I had sent them a demo and got back the standard form letter: 'Thanks for your submission, we'll listen when we get a chance,'" says Howard. "Then Mac was looking for a band to open for a Portastatic show and said he liked the EP he had at the office, and he asked who was putting it out. 'I, uh, sent it to you to put out -- I hope,' I said. 'Let me talk to Laura [Ballance] and see what she thinks,' he said. That was all it took.
"Everything is what you make of it, and Merge allows bands to make their own way," Howard adds. "That can be good or bad, it all comes down to the choices you make. But they just support what you do, which can spoil you -- the fact that somebody actually believes in what you do and not just the money."
There's plenty more where that came from in the feature in Sunday's paper. Also, WUNC-TV is running a feature on Merge on its "North Carolina Now" program, Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. And you can take a listen to this recent NPR feature, or preview the upcoming Merge history book.
ADDENDUM: Here's that WUNC-TV feature.
