The Chainsmokers are absolutely unstoppable, and all anyone seems to be talking about… So, what’s behind their massive success?
Billboard picked the brain of their manager, Adam Alpert (CEO of Disruptor Records and Selector Songs), on release strategy, industry trends, and The Chainsmokers’ evolution from DJ duo to arena act.
It all started when Alpert introduced Alex Pall to Drew Taggart in 2012. This is also when he noticed a shift in the market, “People started to care more about who they were going to see perform than where they were going. They’d rather go see Skrillex in a warehouse than go stare at celebrities in a bottle service club.” 
Here are some other key points from the interview…
On trends in pop: “The pop songs that seem to break through with real staying power are the ones with connectable lyrical content, like ‘Closer.'”
On his monthly release strategy: “We’ve found that the monthly releases are causing the artist to go more viral…”
On the writing process: “…a lot of it is about timing and being out of your comfort zone.”
On translating a live DJ set to an arena: “The Chainsmokers happened to have gotten their roots in dance music and DJ’ing, but as their music as evolved, so has their live show. So they’re bringing a drummer and a keyboardist on tour. There will be a percentage [of the show] performed with live instruments and a percentage that’s DJ’ing. Drew will be singing a tremendous amount of songs, and obviously we’ll have some cameos.”
The DJ duo has hit #1 success on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic five times, took home the Grammy for Best Dance Recording, won big at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, and beat out Justin Bieber for most YouTube plays in 24 hours. Most recently, The Chainsmokers become the third duo or group in history to ever have three songs on in the Top 10 simultaneously: “Something Just Like This,” “Paris,” and “Closer,” following in the footsteps of The Beatles and the Bee Gees.
The Chainsmokers’ debut album Memories: Do Not Open drops April 7, and their arena tour kicks off April 13.
