Merge's early successes included Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane over the Sea, The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs, and Spoon's Kill the Moonlight.

[3] Arcade Fire gave the label its then highest-charting release with their follow-up, 2007's Neon Bible, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200,[4] and, later, reaching #1 with their third album, 2010's The Suburbs.

Other notable Merge releases include Caribou's Polaris Prize-winning Andorra, M. Ward's Hold Time, Camera Obscura's Let's Get Out of This Country, and She & Him's Volume One.

[9] This followed a 6-day music festival in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC, featuring over 40 Merge acts from around the world[10] celebrating the 20th anniversary of the label's first release.

In August 2010, Merge Records released Arcade Fire's The Suburbs to critical acclaim, preceding the band's headlining appearance at Lollapalooza.