Herdlist

HERDLIST: Revolutionizing the Live Concert Experience

Proposal for RARI DAO Consideration

Abstract

HERDLIST: Revolutionizing the Live Concert Experience
Proposal for RARI DAO Consideration


Abstract
HERDLIST is a fan-driven, blockchain-powered platform that transforms live music by allowing audiences to vote on setlists in real time. By leveraging decentralized voting and an on-chain points system, HERDLIST enhances fan engagement and creates new revenue opportunities for artists. This proposal seeks $150,000 in grant funding from RARI DAO, distributed quarterly over one year, to support a beta phase focused on MVP refinement, artist onboarding, and community testing. A public launch is planned for Year 2, pending additional funding.


Motivation
Traditional concerts offer limited audience interaction, keeping fans in a passive role. HERDLIST changes this by introducing real-time, on-chain voting and blockchain-based incentives that reward active participation. Supporting HERDLIST’s beta phase allows for controlled testing and refinement before full-scale implementation.


Rationale
RARI DAO is dedicated to empowering creators through decentralized technology. HERDLIST extends this mission into the live music space by using blockchain to:

  • Enable transparent, fan-driven decision-making via on-chain voting.
  • Provide fair, direct artist compensation through automated revenue distribution.
  • Reward fan participation with on-chain points tied to voting and engagement.
  • Expand RARI DAO’s reach into the music and live entertainment industry.

A dedicated beta year ensures HERDLIST integrates seamlessly into RARI DAO’s ecosystem.


Key Terms

  • HERDLIST Points – On-chain points earned through participation (voting, attending events, etc.). Points can later be used for rewards such as exclusive content, early access to tickets, or merch raffles.

Specifications

Technology Stack

  • Blockchain: Ethereum or Solana for secure voting and point tracking.
  • Smart Contracts: Automate vote tallying, revenue distribution, and point issuance.
  • Beta Web/Mobile Platform: A limited-access MVP for selected artists and fans.

Partnerships & Integrations

  • Artists & Labels: Focused on independent and emerging talent to test the beta.
  • DAO Ecosystem: Exploring collaborations with Web3-native music projects and communities.

Steps to Implement & Budget Breakdown
The $150,000 grant will be distributed in quarterly payments of $37,500 over one year, ensuring a structured beta phase leading up to a full-scale launch proposal in Year 2.

Q1: MVP Development & Smart Contracts ($37,500)

  • Develop blockchain-based voting and points infrastructure.
  • Deploy smart contracts for secure transactions and artist payments.
  • Launch closed beta with a select group of artists and fans.

Q2: Artist & Community Onboarding ($37,500)

  • Onboard 10–15 artists to the beta.
  • Activate the on-chain points system to reward fans.
  • Collect feedback for iterative improvements.

Q3: Engagement & Feature Testing ($37,500)

  • Refine voting mechanics and point rewards based on community input.
  • Run pilot campaigns targeting Web3 and music fanbases.
  • Establish partnerships with DAOs and collectives.

Q4: DAO Integration & Scalability Planning ($37,500)

  • Submit HERDLIST governance proposal to RARI DAO.
  • Finalize platform design based on beta review.
  • Prepare Year 2 funding proposal for public launch.

Timeline – Year 1 (Beta Phase)

  • Q1: Beta MVP launch
  • Q2: Expand access, activate on-chain points
  • Q3: Refine features, scale user engagement
  • Q4: Review, integrate with RARI DAO governance, plan public launch

Total Cost & Payment Structure

  • Annual Budget: $150,000
  • Quarterly Disbursement: $37,500 per quarter
  • Grant Type: Non-equity funding to support beta testing and platform refinement

Conclusion
HERDLIST is pioneering a new era of decentralized entertainment by merging blockchain tech with live music in a fan-first way. With RARI DAO’s support, HERDLIST will launch a fully tested, community-driven platform that reimagines the concert experience and builds long-term value for both artists and fans.

3 Likes

Thank you for submitting this proposal, I do like the idea of tapping into non-crypto traditional markets, and feel that the music industry is prime for NFT’s.

I do have a couple of questions that will help me understand your proposal better. Currently, I feel that your proposal does not provide a lot of details of how you will implement and measure success, and with the limited details of your proposal, and you being a new member of the community, the ask of $150K seems high and a length of the project seems long. A shorter time frame to prove this concept out and a milestone based payment distribution model with a detailed expenses breakout seems to be needed.

  • In your Motivation statement, you state that fans of traditional concerts currently have passive roles. Can you provide links to research studies and examples/case studies of other industries/events that have successful used on-chain voting as a way to activate fans? How much education will you need to provide to these fans and artists on the basics of on-chain voting, basic wallet security or even what wallet will be provided for the voting interface? And how, and in what format will you provide this education, and will you create this content or leverage existing industry educational sources?

  • Regarding technology stack, you included Solana, even though this is not a chain that RARI currently supports. Would you consider using another lower gwei fee chain that the RARI token supports instead?

  • What is your go-to-market plan to identify, educate and engage with onboarding these 10-15 artists in the beta, as well as the GTM strategy for them to onboard their fans? And what is the ideal artist personas (fan base size, location of artist, music style, etc.) and what measurements will you use to determine this: ticket sales/Instagram followers/Social media engaged posts/# of concerts (and concert/venue sizes), traditional record contract artists and/or social media KOL artists?

  • Can you provide examples of the type of proposals that fans would be voting on, and explain (maybe visually) what that would look like? Your proposal also never explicitly mentions the use of NFT’s and I would like to see an incorporation of the use of NFTs in the voting and/rewarding fans in this proposal.

  • Can you provide a more detailed breakdown of expenses (broken down monthly) and all tasks activities associated with each month, and the potential revenue to both Herdlist (if applicable) and to RARI for this beta, and what are your expansion plans for year 2?

  • I would like to see measurement (KPIs) of success, expected timelines for reporting back to the DAO on those KPI’s and the outputs/outcomes of each KPI, and with a budget that is disbursed by milestones delivered, rather than time based quarters.

1 Like

@addie , I just realized that this proposal was posted in the incorrect category. Is this something you can help with or @Jose_StableLab or @Matt_StableLab can help with correcting?

Update: thanks, @addie for updating the category to parent dao proposals

1 Like

Hi! Thanks for putting up this proposal.

I like enabling fan engagement, and doing so via web3 tools is a good idea. However, as you mentioned, the goal is to deploy the platform in Ethereum or Solana, so I don’t see how this project benefits Rari DAO or the Rari token, directly or indirectly. Could you clarify that?

4 Likes

hi there,
Thanks for sharing the proposal. I’ve got a few questions:

  1. Could you share more details around this?
    How exactly will this work? What are the mechanics behind it?
  1. How is the fan engagement actually improved?
    What are the new revenue opportunities you’re creating, and how do they work?

  2. Could you elaborate a bit more on your GTM strategy?

1 Like

Sorry -

There was a mistake - this will be evm compatible so we will like to implement rari chain however we would also like to use other chains as well - unless the Dao prefers it be exclusive which we can talk about

1 Like

Hi There!

Thank you so much for your response and interest- I really do believe this app will be able to help bridge the gap we so desperately have been trying to do.

  • In your Motivation statement, you include that fans of traditional concerts have passive roles. Can you provide research studies of other industries/events that have successful used on-chain voting as a way to activate fans and how much education will you need to provide to these fans and artists on the basics of on-chain voting, basic wallet security or even what wallet will be provided/voting interface. And how and in what format will you provide this education?

Yes- so I actually did an event where I had voters for on the songs they wanted to have on a playlist

We received over 3k votes- with top voters giving rewards

IMG_0085.png

In regards to education- my goal is to create something where their isn’t much friction to use the product

Currently trying to see if we can take approach like farcaster where the wallet or imbedded or something of the sort but I want this to be as easy as possible.

For artist, in beta i look forward to having meetings and instructive sessions to inform them of the importance of having data recording on chain - how such an app will be beneficial to their career and how this is not only an app that allows fans engagement but is also a marketing tool that is on blockchain which means data is very difficult to manipulate- which is very important for artist

  • Regarding technology stack, you included Solana, even though this is not a chain that RARI currently supports. Would you consider using another lower gwei fee chain that RARI token supports instead?

Yes- I should have said evm compatible

  • What is your Go to market plan to identify, educate and engage with onboarding these 10-15 artists in the beta? And what is the ideal artist personas (fan base size, location of artist, music style, etc.) and what measurements will you use to determine this: ticket sales/Instagram followers/Social media engaged posts/# of concerts (and concert/venue sizes), traditional record contract artists and/or social media KLA artists?

Yes- so a lot of issues when it comes to onboarding artists to blockchain is that many people choose artist that are well known established signed artist - this is not a problem but these artists tend to not care and don’t want to level up their careers because they don’t need to

However independent artists - artist that are not signed are more willing to learn because they have a deeper connection with their audience

That being said :

All the artist will be independent or non exclusive contracts

Artists must have sold out 500 to 1500 cap rooms in various cities ( specifically major cities in the us since we are in beta )

Album sales

Instagram follower and Spotify listeners will be viewed but these platforms are heavily botted so that will be considered when viewing and making or decision

  • Can you provide examples of the type of proposals that fans would be voting on, and explain (maybe visually) what that would look like?

Here is a demo is this helps - fans won’t be voting on proposals but on songs they will want their artist to perform

  • Can you provide a more detailed breakdown of expenses and potential revenue to both Herdlist (if applicable) and to RARI for this beta and what are your expansion plans for year 2?

Thanks for the follow-up. Much of this was already shared in the initial outline, but happy to provide additional clarity around the breakdown of expenses and projected value for both HERDLIST and RARI, along with what we’re aiming for in Year 2.

Detailed Budget Breakdown (Year 1 – Beta Phase)

Q1: MVP Development & Smart Contracts – $37,500

  • Smart contract design + deployment: $20,000
  • Backend/front-end dev for MVP (voting + points system): $12,000
  • Closed beta support (testing, feedback loop): $5,500

Q2: Artist & Community Onboarding – $37,500

  • Artist onboarding incentives + payments: $15,000
  • Community engagement ops (mods, support): $7,000
  • Points system activation + marketing assets: $10,000
  • Feedback implementation & iteration: $5,500

Q3: Engagement & Feature Testing – $37,500

  • Campaigns + Web3 fanbase targeting: $15,000
  • Dev refinements (smart contracts, points logic): $12,500
  • Strategic partnership outreach: $10,000

Q4: Platform Polish & Expansion Planning – $37,500

  • Product design + UI/UX refinements: $10,000
  • Team operations + scale readiness (infra, tooling, artist pipeline): $20,000
  • Final beta wrap-up + prep for public rollout: $7,500

Revenue Potential (Beta Phase)

HERDLIST (Internal Goals):
The beta phase is focused on testing mechanics, building community, and gathering feedback. While revenue isn’t the immediate goal, we are laying the groundwork for monetization through:

  • Point-based fan engagement with redeemable rewards (exclusive content, early access, merch, etc.).
  • These systems will be refined for full implementation during the public launch in Year 2.

Strategic Value for RARI

  • RARI gains early access to a new on-chain engagement model that introduces artists and fans into a blockchain-native flow.
  • All engagement activity (voting, points, artist drops) runs transparently through smart contracts, with opportunities for branded RARI touchpoints during artist onboarding and fan participation.
  • The beta will also generate valuable insight into how music-native platforms can drive both loyalty and discovery—useful for shaping future tools or collaborations within the RARI ecosystem.
  • This phase gives RARI the chance to be associated with an early-stage experiment in music x Web3, while shaping its direction before the public rollout.

Year 2 Expansion Plans

  • Public launch of HERDLIST, expanding from the initial beta group to a broader artist and fan audience.
  • Introduction of monetization features including points redemption, access tiers, and digital collectibles.
  • Scaling to 100+ artists and over 10K fans, supported by partnerships with collectives and creator communities.
  • Continued alignment with platforms and protocols that share values with RARI—opening up deeper collab opportunities on tooling, onboarding, and artist support.
  • Ongoing refinement of the platform experience based on beta learnings, with clearer pathways to user growth and sustainability.
2 Likes

Appreciate the creative direction here, but I’m not in support of this proposal.

The idea of letting fans vote on setlists is interesting in theory, but I think in practice it would mostly lead to the same results night after night. Most concertgoers want to hear the hits, which means the voting would likely reinforce a predictable experience rather than add something dynamic or surprising.

More importantly, many artists—especially those with prearranged shows, choreography, synced visuals, or large productions—just can’t adapt their setlist on the fly. That makes HERDLIST likely only viable for smaller acts, jam bands, or DIY tours where spontaneity is part of the brand.

There’s definitely room for innovation in live music and Web3, but this use case feels too narrow to justify the scale of the proposal as it stands.

5 Likes

Thanks for the proposal. While the idea is promising, I have to agree with @Jose_StableLab that I don’t see much reference or benefit to Rarible or RARI chain, considering the requested budget and our tight treasury.
Maybe a traditional investment round or grants program application makes more sense in your case.

3 Likes

Thank you for submitting this proposal.

Currently I believe that music is still underrated in web 3, it is just a small niche that is often overlooked by the regular crypto user.

When I look at successfull music platforms in web 3, I would like to point to Cooprecords.xyz, which is an onchain record label. Currently they have valuable partnerships across web 3 and are heavily promoted by Coinbase Wallet. This cocktail has resulted in success, however it is still overlooked by the regular crypto user.

When we look to the Rari Chain, the Rari Foundation, the Rarible NFT marketplace, and the direction we’re currently going, I do not see how this will benefit us in any way, besides having another cool application around that has been funded by us.

Solana is currently not integrated on the Rarible NFT marketplace and Ethereum might be expensive to use. There is also no mention of the Rari Chain.

That means the entire userbase / community has to come from these independant and emerging music artists.

Overal budget seems to be ok for a platform of this size, however additional funding from the treasury will be needed for public launch.

As a Rarible maxi myself, I do not believe this proposal is beneficial to our Rari Ecosystem in its current form. Maybe you can make it more interesting to us by implementing the RARI token, the Rari Chain, and how to align with the current direction Rarible is going in.

2 Likes

No- problem- I’ll take down my proposal

Thank you for your updated details on this proposal. I have to agree with other delegate concerns, and specifically, this proposal is too narrow in scope to try and solve a pain issue, and it does not have enough of a justification to benefit the RARI chain. Therefore, I cannot support this proposal with it’s current objective.

2 Likes