The first trading card company built for music

trade@headlinercards.com
Step 03 · Record Label

The new limited-edition merch. Officially licensed.

Trading cards are the format sports collectibles took for granted — finally rebuilt for music. Turn your roster's catalog and legacy artists into officially licensed drops collectors hunt for.

The White Space

Sports has had this for decades. Music hasn't.

Baseball cards. Basketball cards. Football cards. Every major sport has an officially licensed collectible product built around its athletes. Music has never had a version of this — until now. Your artists have legacy. Your catalog has value. There's a new format to put both of them in collectors' hands.

The Challenge

Merch is saturated. Streaming pays pennies.

The existing options for artist marketing and merch aren't moving the needle. There's a new format sitting right in front of the industry.

  • 01

    Merch Is a Commodity

    Tees and hoodies are a race to the bottom. Every artist has the same SKUs. The format doesn't create collector demand — it creates inventory risk.

  • 02

    Catalog Activation Is Hard

    How do you market a 30-year-old album in 2026? Reissues and curated playlists only go so far. There's no physical artifact bringing legacy artists back into cultural conversation.

  • 03

    Superfans Have No Physical Anchor

    Streaming is passive. There's no collectible object tying a superfan's identity to the artists they love most. The sports card industry proved this market exists — at massive scale.

The Solution

A new format. Built for superfans.

01

Official Licensed Drops

Officially licensed trading cards for your artists. Artist-approved photography, copy, and stats. Every card is legitimate — no knockoffs, no gray market.

02

Catalog Activation

Perfect for legacy artists, anniversary releases, or tour tie-ins. The card drop IS the marketing moment — press-worthy, social-native, collector-driven.

03

Drop Culture Format

Limited edition. Numbered runs. Scarcity drives demand. Collectors hunt these the same way they hunt sneakers and Supreme drops.

04

Pilot Program

Start with a 3–5 card drop. Low commitment. Proven model. Gauge collector demand before you decide to scale across your roster.

The Pilot Model

Start small. Prove it first.

How It Works

3–5 card first drop

We've already piloted this model with major catalog partners whose artists span decades and continents. The proof of concept is real — and the demand surprised everyone in the room.

A pilot drop is low risk. You pick the artist. We handle rights clearance, design, and a premium limited print run. You take it to market. If it lands, you scale.

What You Get

Pilot drop includes

  • 3–5 card set, artist-approved
  • Numbered limited print run
  • Premium soft-touch laminated finish
  • Full rights clearance handled by Headliner
  • Digital collector gallery and press assets
  • Flat fee — no revenue split on sales
Drop Formats

Three ways to activate.

Anniversary Drop

Catalog Anniversary

  • Tied to a milestone album anniversary
  • Creates a cultural moment + press opportunity
  • Physical artifact for the superfan community
Roster Series

Multi-Artist Roster Series

  • Rolling card series across your full roster
  • Drives cross-discovery and label visibility
  • Builds a collector set over multiple drops
The Process

From catalog meeting to drop day.

01 · Pilot Proposal

Build the concept

Tell us your artist and catalog focus. We build a drop concept — card count, format, and creative direction — around their legacy.

02 · Rights

Clearance

We work with your team to secure photography, stats, and copy approvals. We know how to move through this process quickly.

03 · Print

Design & production

3–5 card first drop, numbered run. Premium soft-touch laminated. Artist signs off before we print a single card.

04 · Drop

Distribute

We connect you to our collector network, festival partners, and retail channels. The drop is the moment — we make sure it lands.

Target: 6–8 weeks from first meeting to drop day.

The Team

Who's behind this.

A music industry veteran, an operations expert, and a seasoned music manager — the exact combination you need to navigate artist rights, licensing, and collector demand simultaneously.

Kevin Charles Macaraeg

Co-Founder · Creative Director · Designer

Former Snapchat Inc. and Sony Music / The Orchard. MTV contest-winning designer. Past artists include BTS, Oasis, Franc Moody, Jungle, Sammy Virji. 10 years in the music industry.

Brendon Jasso

Co-Founder & Director of Operations

Operations and partnership lead. Managed + facilitated $16M in revenue over 7 years. Experience across B2C and B2B in highly regulated and licensed environments.

Ryan Hambsch

Music Industry Advisor

Two decades of music management. Worked alongside Moby, Robyn, The Blessed Madonna, Shouse, and Royksopp. The relationships and industry credibility to open doors at the label level.

Label Partnerships

Start a pilot.

Tell us about your artist or catalog focus. We'll come back with a pilot drop concept built around their legacy.

Questions? trade@headlinercards.com

Request received — we'll be in touch within 48 hours.