Hardware Podcasts

Merge Records: Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan

How I Built This · 6 Dec 2021 · 1h 17m

What this episode covers

Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan, founders of Merge Records and members of the band Superchunk, explain how they launched an indie label in 1989 as a casual artistic endeavor while managing their band's career. They detail the transition from handshake deals and DIY manufacturing to scaling the business after signing Arcade Fire, whose album Funeral became a massive commercial success. The episode covers their strategy of leveraging touring for talent scouting, the financial realities of the vinyl resurgence, and how their complementary personalities allowed their business partnership to survive their personal breakup.

Most relevant to

founders before launch and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Merge Records, Matador, Touch and Go Records, Sub Pop, Kinko's, Pepper's Pizza, Cat's Cradle, Barefoot Press, Tanis Root
Products
Superchunk, Arcade Fire, Neutral Milk Hotel, Fugazi, The Mountain Goats, Spoon

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