Platzman was born on September 28, 1986 in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Berklee College of Music where he earned a degree in film scoring. While at Berklee, Platzman played in the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra, the Urban Outreach Jazz Orchestra and the Berklee Rainbow Big Band, and received the Vic Firth Award for Outstanding Musicianship and the Michael Rendish Award in Film Scoring.
He also played in a guitar performance ensemble with future Imagine Dragons bandmates Wayne Sermon and Ben McKee.
In 2011, Platzman was invited by Wayne Sermon to join Imagine Dragons, based out of Las Vegas. McKee dropped out of his final semester at Berklee to join the band, inviting Daniel Platzman to play drums, completing the lineup.
