Nick Holmstén & Ash Pournouri Launch Superfan Startup Belong

Troy Carter, Chris Zarou and Hans Vestberg are among its backers

Nick Holmstén, the former Spotify Global Head of Music, and Avicii’s former manager Ash Pournouri have officially launched superfan platform Belong, which aims to verify music fans and route the money they spend back to artists, according to Music Business Worldwide.

Why it matters:

Superfans are increasingly viewed by labels and streaming services as an important source of artist revenue and fan engagement.
Investor Troy Carter, Founder and CEO of Venice Music and the former manager of Lady Gaga and John Legend, says Belong is the “first platform that actually allows artists to capture massive financial value and actionable fan data.”

How it works:

Each Belong member is verified as a real person through bank-grade Know Your Customer checks.
Belong then builds a Know Your Fan graph by combining that verified identity with a fan’s engagement data across streaming, social, and past merchandise and ticket purchases.
Each fan gets an artist-branded digital card – dubbed a Passport – which is held in their phone wallet, recording how they have supported the artist over time, from shows to merch purchases.
That record unlocks benefits such as face-value presale access, early drops and member-only experiences, with the financial value created when fans spend routed back to the artist.

Backers:

Advisors and investors include former Chairman and CEO of Verizon Hans Vestberg; Backwards Capital and Visionary Music Group Founder Chris Zarou; and Troy Carter.
Vestberg also serves as Board chair.
Other investors include a16z speedrun, Blitzscaling Ventures, and Prevail Capital, among others.

What they said:

Ash Pournouri, Co-Founder and Chief Artist Officer of Belong: “Fans fund this entire industry, but it barely knows their names. Music sells everything around it, from tickets and merch to culture itself, yet artists capture only a fraction of the value they create. This always bothered me, and we built Belong to fix it. By verifying every fan so artists truly see them, and making the music count for everything it sells, we unlock a new economy for the whole industry.”
Nick Holmstén, Co-Founder and CEO of Belong: “Fans have been proving their devotion for decades – the industry just never kept the receipt. A sold-out room empties, a number ticks over, and all that love has nowhere to land. We build the rails that carry it – from a feeling to a record, from a night you’ll remember to a relationship that remembers you back. The artist keeps the stage. We build the floor it stands on.”