# DAS

## The Investment Case

Source Documentation & Citations
Prepared: February 6, 2026 Research compiled from 15+ industry sources 8 parallel research agents deployed Confidential — For Intended Recipients Only
DAS
Source Documentation — Streaming & Artist Data

### Category 1 Streaming Platforms & Artist Metrics

Primary data sources for monthly listener counts, follower metrics, and artist profile verification used throughout the presentation.

# | Source | Information Used | Slide(s)
--- | --- | --- | ---
1 | Spotify open.spotify.com/artist/ | Sara Landry: 1.6M monthly listeners. Ray Volpe: 611.8K monthly listeners. Used to verify current streaming metrics and establish artist credibility benchmarks. | Slide 2Slide 4Slide 10
2 | Beatport beatport.com/artist/sara-landry/663399 | Sara Landry's ranking as #1 best-selling female producer on Beatport. Beatport chart presence as credibility signal for EDM booking. Genre-specific chart tracking for techno/house. | Slide 2Slide 4Slide 10
3 | Monstercat monstercat.com/artist/ray-volpe | Ray Volpe's "Laserbeam" crowned most played track at EDC Las Vegas 2022. #1 on Beatport Dubstep Chart, #1 on iTunes Electronic Chart. Billboard chart appearances. | Slide 2Slide 10
4 | Insomniac Music insomniac.com/music/artists/ | Official artist bios confirming Sara Landry's 1.6M+ listener count and Ray Volpe's festival credentials. Insomniac operates EDC, the largest EDM festival brand. | Slide 2Slide 10
5 | Instagram instagram.com/rayvolpe/ | Ray Volpe: 251K followers. Used for social media follower benchmarking and collab threshold analysis. | Slide 4Slide 10
6 | Bandsintown bandsintown.com/a/13504081-isoxo | ISOxo follower data (~31K). Used as comparable for EDM artists who play major festivals with relatively modest follower counts. | Slide 4

### Category 2 Festival Economics & Booking Data

Industry sources for festival payment ranges, booking thresholds, and artist tier classifications. These informed the revenue projections and milestone framework.

# | Source | Information Used | Slide(s)
--- | --- | --- | ---
7 | EDM Festival Insider edmfestivalinsider.com/how-much-do-artists-make-when-playing-festivals/ | Primary source for festival payment ranges: Ultra/EDC/Tomorrowland $30K-$400K per set. Specific artist fees (Calvin Harris £950K, Avicii £500K, Jamie XX £200K, Sigma £25K). Deal structures (landed vs +++). Festival budget allocation models. | Slide 4Slide 7Slide 8Slide 11
8 | Variety variety.com/2022/music/news/coachella-festival-time-slot-set-time-1235233195/ | Festival time slot analysis: sunset slots (2:30-7:30 PM) identified as most valuable. Peak vs off-peak timing data. Headliner slot challenges and audience retention patterns. | Slide 4Slide 7
9 | Pollstar (referenced) pollstar.com | Industry-standard touring revenue data. Ticket sales history benchmarks. Used by talent buyers as primary booking metric. Referenced for revenue projection validation. | Slide 7Slide 8Slide 11
10 | Indie on the Move indieonthemove.com/blog/2021/4/tips-from-a-unique-perspective-an-artist-and-talent-buyer | Talent buyer perspective on what metrics matter for booking decisions. Primary data points: Pollstar reports, streaming numbers, social engagement, press coverage. Confirmed ticket sales as #1 metric. | Slide 4Slide 7Slide 11
11 | Ticket Fairy ticketfairy.com/blog/ | Festival set length strategy by slot type. Data-driven talent booking using audience insights. Set length: warm-up 75-120 min, prime time 60-90 min, headliner 60-90 min. | Slide 4Slide 6

DAS
Source Documentation — Advertising & Industry Analysis

### Category 3 TikTok Advertising & Music Marketing

Sources used to calculate cost-per-listener acquisition rates, campaign benchmarks, and the $0.98/follower relative performance analysis.

# | Source | Information Used | Slide(s)
--- | --- | --- | ---
12 | Gupta Media guptamedia.com | TikTok CPM benchmark: $6.21 average. CPC: $0.31. Industry-leading digital music marketing agency data used for ad efficiency benchmarking. | Slide 3Slide 5
13 | Lebesgue lebesgue.io | TikTok CPM data: $3.21 baseline. Year-over-year CPM growth rate of 12.28%. Seasonal pricing variations (January low $2.87, Q4 peak $6.26). | Slide 3Slide 5
14 | Darkroom Agency darkroomagency.com | Spark Ads performance data: 20-40% lower CPC vs standard ads. Music-specific campaign conversion rates. Micro-influencer ROI benchmarks (70% of successful campaigns). | Slide 3Slide 5
15 | Billboard billboard.com | 84% of Billboard Global 200 songs (2024) went viral on TikTok first. Chart performance data for EDM artists. Touring profitability statistics: only 57% of indie touring musicians are profitable. | Slide 3Slide 8Slide 11

### Category 4 Streaming Economics & Artist Development

Sources for listener-to-revenue conversion rates, collab thresholds, and career development benchmarks.

# | Source | Information Used | Slide(s)
--- | --- | --- | ---
16 | Musosoup musosoup.com/blog/how-does-spotify-calculate-monthly-listeners | 1,000 monthly listeners = top 19% of Spotify artists. 10K-50K listeners = £100-£600/month earnings. 200K listeners = ~£2,000/month stable income. Listener calculation methodology. | Slide 4Slide 7
17 | Two Story Melody twostorymelody.com/spotify-monthly-listeners-explained/ | Listener-to-income benchmarks: 40K = growing artist, 100K = doing OK, 500K = established. Used for milestone framework validation. | Slide 4Slide 7
18 | EDM Tips edmtips.com/how-to-get-signed-to-a-record-label/ | Collaboration threshold: target artists with 20K-40K followers on desired labels. Sweet spot for networking. Label signing requirements and social proof expectations. | Slide 4Slide 9
19 | Audio Jacked audiojacked.com/music-news/top-10-tips-for-edm-producers-to-get-signed-by-a-record-label | Label thresholds: 2K-8K followers for indie labels, 20K-100K+ for majors. What labels look for: music quality, fan engagement, growth trajectory, promotional ability. | Slide 4Slide 9
20 | Social Plug socialplug.io/blog/spotify-case-study | Case study: EDM artist grew from 700 to 48,000 monthly listeners in 4 weeks via strategic promotion. 50K-100K = early festival tier threshold. | Slide 5Slide 6

### Category 5 Community & Industry Discussion

Reddit communities provided real-world artist experiences, booking agent perspectives, and crowd-sourced payment data that cross-validated industry publication figures.

# | Source | Information Used | Slide(s)
--- | --- | --- | ---
21 | Reddit r/EDM reddit.com/r/EDM/ | Critical insight: artists with 1-2M engaged listeners headline while 12-18M playlist-driven artists can't sell 3K venues. Knock2/ISOxo case studies. Up-and-coming thresholds (10K-100K). Sara Landry, Fred Again.., John Summit rise documented. | Slide 4Slide 7Slide 10Slide 11
22 | Reddit r/aves reddit.com/r/aves/ | DJ payment data: Zomboy $15K-$100K, Eptic/Habstrakt $2K-$20K (2018-2019). Real-world festival fee verification from attendees and industry insiders. | Slide 4Slide 8
23 | Reddit r/electricdaisycarnival reddit.com/r/electricdaisycarnival/ | EDC-specific payment ranges: most artists under $100K, biggest names 6-figures. Peak headliner slot timing: 1:00 AM. Sunrise set value analysis. | Slide 4Slide 7
24 | Reddit r/edmproduction reddit.com/r/edmproduction/ | Intermediate success benchmarks: 50K-100K SoundCloud followers = ~$2K/show, need 25 shows/year for $50K salary. Production career economics. | Slide 7Slide 8
25 | Reddit r/DJs reddit.com/r/DJs/ | Club set fees: $200-$300 for 1-1.5hr. Outdoor festival sets: $250-$500. Entry-level payment benchmarks for emerging DJs. | Slide 7

DAS
Source Documentation — Additional Sources & Festival Operations

### Category 6 Festival Operations & Booking Tools

# | Source | Information Used | Slide(s)
--- | --- | --- | ---
26 | Pirate Studios pirate.com/en/blog/get-booked-us-festivals/ | Festival organizer interviews (Hulaween, Joshua Tree, Gem & Jam): "Social media is an afterthought — I'll book wildly talented artists regardless of their socials." Live performance quality as top priority. | Slide 4Slide 10
27 | Gigmit blog.gigmit.com/en/4-reasons-to-use-gigmit-as-a-large-scale-promoter-talent-buyer/ | Modern talent buyer tools: Fan Charts, geographic insights, PollstarPro integration, Rostr agency mapping. Data-driven booking methodology. | Slide 4Slide 6
28 | Beats to Rap On beatstorapon.com/blog/festival-booking-the-complete-guide-for-artists-managers-and-promoters-2025/ | Festival booking guide: early slots require 50-200 person draw, regional festivals 200-500 capacity headline shows, major festivals need national tour history. | Slide 4Slide 6
29 | We Rave You weraveyou.com/2023/07/music-festival-debate-edc-tomorrowland-and-ultra/ | Festival scale comparison: Tomorrowland 600K attendees (2 weekends, 14 stages), EDC 8 stages, Ultra 7 stages. Market size context for payment analysis. | Slide 4Slide 8
30 | BeatStats beatstats.com | Beatport Top 100 chart tracking. Used for techno/house credibility benchmarking. Relevant for genre-specific festival booking considerations. | Slide 4
31 | De Novo Agency denovoagency.com/blogs/insights-and-strategies-for-the-modern-musician/ | TikTok algorithm advantage for new artists: algorithm doesn't weight existing follower count. Growth roadmap from 10 to 10,000 Spotify followers. | Slide 3Slide 5

### Summary Source Coverage by Slide

Slide # | Slide Title | Source Numbers
--- | --- | ---
Slide 1 | Title | —
Slide 2 | The Validation | 1, 2, 3, 4
Slide 3 | How the Industry Works Now | 12, 13, 14, 15, 31
Slide 4 | The Thresholds That Matter | 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
Slide 5 | The Investment Required | 12, 13, 14, 20, 31
Slide 6 | The Timeline | 11, 20, 27, 28
Slide 7 | When Revenue Starts | 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 21, 23, 24, 25
Slide 8 | Revenue Projections | 7, 9, 15, 22, 24, 29
Slide 9 | The Compounding Effect | 18, 19
Slide 10 | Das's Unfair Advantages | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 21, 26
Slide 11 | Risk & Reality Check | 7, 9, 10, 15, 21
Slide 12 | The Ask | Derived from slides 4-8
Slide 13 | What Success Looks Like | Derived from slides 4-8
Slide 14 | Next Steps | All sources

Disclaimer: All figures presented are based on publicly available industry data, artist self-reporting, and community-sourced information as of February 2026. Actual results may vary significantly based on genre, market conditions, campaign execution quality, content performance, and audience engagement. Revenue projections are conservative estimates and should not be construed as guarantees. Festival payment data represents ranges compiled from multiple sources and actual fees are subject to confidential negotiations. This document is prepared for informational purposes only.