Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7-inch single.

The vinyl 7-inch was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette.

Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC.

In 2009 Merge Records is celebrating its 20th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 20 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge.

Thanks for listening!

Mailorder Questions

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Jay Lowe: mailorder@mergerecords.com

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Lindsey Kronmiller: radio@mergerecords.com

National & Regional Press

Christina Rentz: christina@mergerecords.com

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General Information

merge@mergerecords.com

American Music Club - Todd Cote at Leafy Green Booking

And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Christian Bernhardt at The Agency Group Ltd.

Lou Barlow - Kevin French at Big Shot

Arcade Fire - David Viecelli at Billions

The Broken West - Kevin French at Big Shot

Richard Buckner - Andrew Colvin at Ground Control

Buzzcocks - Seth at The Agency

Camera Obscura - Jim Romeo at Ground Control

Caribou - Tom Windish at The Windish Agency

The Clean - Derek Becker at Satellite Booking

The Clientele - Eric Dimenstein at Ground Control

Conor Oberst - Eric Dimenstein at Ground Control

Crooked Fingers - Ali Hedrick at Billions

Destroyer - Ali Hedrick at Billions

The Essex Green - Tim Edwards at Flower Booking

Annie Hayden - Joe Cohen at Proletariat Touring

Imperial Teen - Steve Kaul at The Agency

David Kilgour - Derek Becker at Satellite Booking

The Ladybug Transistor - Erik Carter at Uncle Booking

Lambchop - Frank Riley at High Road

The Love Language - Jim Romeo at Ground Control

Magnetic Fields - Eric Selz at Red Ryder

Oakley Hall - Eric Dimenstein at Ground Control

Portastatic - Jim Romeo at Ground Control

Radar Bros - Tim Edwards at Flower Booking

The Rosebuds - Jim Romeo at Ground Control

She & Him - Eric Dimenstein at Ground Control

Shout Out Louds - Marty Diamond at Paradigm

Spoon - Sam Kirby at William Morris Agency

Telekinesis - Trey Many at Billions

Versus - Jim Romeo at Ground Control

M. Ward - Eric Dimenstein at Ground Control

White Whale - Christian Bernhardt at The Agency Group Ltd.

Wye Oak - Trey Many at Billions

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