Keep pulling the thread on The Chainsmokers.
New stars in dance music are able to sell out large venues like Madison Square Garden despite having Spotify monthly listener counts that would traditionally classify them as emerging artists.
In their early career, The Chainsmokers systematically targeted artists and bloggers on Hype Machine with personalized emails to secure remix opportunities and blog coverage, resulting in approximately 30 number-one tracks on the platform within their first year.
The stated strategy for the Mantis venture fund is to act as a valuable co-investor ("sixth man") alongside top-tier VCs in rounds for the best founders, rather than leading rounds themselves.
The Chainsmokers' investment in the beverage company Poppi generated a 30x return.
Tripp Adler, the founder of Scribd, is starting a new company focused on licensing and protecting copyright rights for creators in the age of AI.
The current era of AI models training on copyrighted data is analogous to the "Napster moment" for the music industry.
Prominent tech figures including Brian Chesky and Steve Huffman advised The Chainsmokers to shift their investment focus from consumer packaged goods to technology companies.
The Chainsmokers believe their portfolio company, Poppi, has successfully reinvented the soda category and will likely shape its future.
The public and industry reaction to the announcement of The Chainsmokers' venture fund, Mantis, was predominantly negative and skeptical.
The Chainsmokers have been signed to the Columbia Disruptor record label for nine years and describe the partnership as incredibly successful.
The failure of record labels to adapt to digital distribution led to the rise of Digital Service Providers (DSPs) like Spotify, which now take an estimated 30% cut of revenue.
The number of songs uploaded to Spotify each Friday has increased from approximately 10,000 to 190,000.