What do a musician, a club promoter and a former intern for Atlantic Records all have in common? A love of music, sure, but they all also happen to work on the content team at DICE.
Founded in 2014, DICE helps fans discover and buy tickets to live shows all over the world. The company’s mission is to get people out more — without the headaches that have come to define much of the ticket-purchasing industry.
“I think of DICE as the cool ticketing company,” said Zach Walker, head of venue & promoter partnerships, nightlife. “From the branding to the technology to the platform to the partners it's signed, DICE always delivers a great fan experience.”
Walker would know. He was a former Atlantic Records intern who joined the team nearly two years ago to help sign the best partners across the nightlife industry. With experience as a successful music journalist and in business development for a social marketing platform in the fan acquisition space, Walker always pictured himself working in the music industry — he just couldn’t have anticipated the global reach he’d have at a fan-centric company like DICE.
“This is my first experience working at a global company,” Walker said. “I tend to gravitate toward smaller startups, but working at DICE has been really exciting because you’re able to get diverse perspectives from people in the same industry but in different countries.”
No matter their location, DICE employees are unified by their love of music and the belief that a gig can change lives. Whether fans are looking for a sweaty rave, a comedy show or a drag cabaret, DICE’s content team is determined to help them find and secure a ticket without any hassle. Built In sat down with Walker and two of his colleagues to learn more about how they’re improving the fan experience and breaking down barriers to having a good time.
A ‘no silly questions’ kind of culture
Alex White was 13 years old when she started playing in bands. In high school, she started a record label and with the help of the internet, distributed vinyl worldwide. One degree in business management later, White pivoted back to her roots and started a band called White Mystery that toured around the world for 15 years, playing in Japan, the UK, the European Union, and all over North America.
“We made our own merch and put out our own albums,” White said. “It was a really great experience. Then I went on to help launch a ticket subscription company and got my MBA at DePaul University.” By the time she graduated in 2022, she was looking for a new opportunity to grow and challenge herself. That’s when she found DICE.
“DICE is a fan-first company, which is an anomaly in the ticketing industry,” White said. “It’s usually a transactional kind of process for the fan.” As a musician, White could immediately tell that DICE was special. She describes its platform as “community-building” — a place to connect with other fans, buy group tickets to shows, and discover new bands to add to your Spotify playlist.
DICE is a fan-first company, which is an anomaly in the ticketing industry.”
As the head of venue and promoter partnerships for live music, White’s main job is creating meaningful partnerships with promoters and venues who find value in using DICE as their ticketing platform. Or, as White said, “I see what their pain points are and then figure out how DICE can help them.”
White’s only been with DICE for a few months, but beyond the platform’s capabilities, she’s also been impressed with her onboarding experience.
“The team is so supportive,” White said. “It’s one of those ‘there are no silly questions’ kind of culture. People are always excited and happy to help; they always remind me they’re just a Slack away.”
Jobs that are ‘not just about selling’
Pancho Jiménez Amat stumbled across DICE as co-founder and promoter for Bananarama Club, a nightclub in Madrid known for Latin-inspired electronic music and underground sounds. A friend of his suggested he sell tickets to the club through DICE. After further research, he grew impressed with the platform. He found himself poking around the company’s open roles.
“I went to the website to see if there were any job opportunities and that’s when I saw a role around brand partnerships,” Amat said. He reached out and the rest is history.
As the senior brand partnerships manager for Europe, Amat’s main focus is activating brands’ strategies around music.
“We have a nice big network around festivals, promoters and artists, so my day to day is having conversations with brand media and creative agencies and pitching them ways to partner with the music industry,” Amat said.
To that end, Amat said there is no better feeling than when a brand that’s really passionate about music is able to take part in an event that’s high-quality and fan-centric.
“Being on the content team here is not just about selling and bringing revenue to the company,” Amat said. “It’s about being really creative and creating amazing experiences and strategies for brands.”
Being on the content team here is not just about selling and bringing revenue to the company.”
While Amat’s previous experience as a club promoter and in music management and booking have certainly given him a leg up at DICE, Amat attributes much of his success in the last three years to DICE’s focus on growth and development.
“When I started working at DICE, I was 100 percent focused on the Spanish market,” Amat said. “But in just a couple of years, I was able to develop my professional skills and work for the entire European market. Continuous growth is something DICE really takes into account.”
‘A melting pot of music fanatics’
Zach Walker could never work for one of the big ticketing giants, where a user could see tickets to a live music show right beside promotion for a goat yoga class.
“What’s the quality of that experience being delivered?” Walker said, with a laugh. “A fan-centric experience comes from seeing high-quality events right when you enter the DICE ecosystem.”
By that, Walker means tailored events happening at venues users like or with promoters users follow. As a lifelong music fanatic, Walker said it’s been easy for him to put himself in the shoes of fans. After all, he started his career at DICE as such.
“Everyone here comes from some sort of background in the music business,” Walker said. “So it’s just a melting pot of music fanatics and that comes through in our culture. It’s beautiful because the culture isn’t homogenous in any way. All of our backgrounds are similar, yet different.”
It’s beautiful because the culture isn’t homogenous in any way.”
Given that DICE employees are music lovers, you'll often find them traveling to see shows at venues all over the country. While Walker’s colleague, Alex White, waxed poetic about her recent experience at Treefort Music Fest in Boise, Idaho, Walker looks forward to the next Sound and Fury Festival in Los Angeles. He attended his first one last year, and discovered a bunch of new “hardcore” bands he now loves.
“The festival was unlike anything I've ever been to,” Walker said. And he’s been to plenty of rock shows, including festivals like Coachella and Lollapalooza. “But this energy was just insane. I’m really looking forward to going again this summer. I love going to shows. I love being a fan.”
