Our founders

Backline was founded by two old friends who thought there must be a better way to apply cutting-edge data science to the everyday workings of the music industry.

Here’s a bit more about them. (And yes, they’re both called Danny. We know.).

Danny Angove

Music manager, digital marketer, journalist, LEGO enthusiast

Danny Angove is an artist manager, digital marketer, designer, music journalist, and entrepreneur.

He’s worked on multi-faceted and international artist management campaigns, with highlights to date including BRIT and GRAMMY Award nominations, chart-topping albums, BAFTA wins, historic five-night Royal Albert Hall residencies, and global festival headline sets.

Alongside his artist management work, Danny is the founder of Impostor Syndrome, a one-point digital and creative services agency. The company works with a range of record labels, tech brands, and fashion houses, and prides itself on delivering a bespoke, data-driven, and creative approach to any task at hand.

Danny has also been interviewed on BBC Two’s Newsnight and MTV’s Breaks podcast, written for the Guardian and HuffPost, and is the Founding Editor of digital music magazine One on One. He’s a regular guest speaker at domestic and international universities and is passionate about brand identity and continuity, data analytics, and consumer psychology within the music and entertainment spaces.

Danny Starr

Neuroscientist, data scientist, musician, future shampoo model

Danny Starr is a neuroscientist, data scientist, songwriter, and recording artist.

After completing a Neuroscience BSc and Data Science & Artificial Intelligence MSc, Danny developed a fascination with human behaviour and understanding why people make the choices they make, both consciously and subconsciously, within the context of digital products. He went on to occupy a senior role at the Global Media & Entertainment group, leading a Customer Experience and Product Development team on Global Player, one of the Apple App Store’s most popular music apps.

Simultaneously, Danny developed a career as a songwriter and public-facing recording artist, headlining shows across the world and appearing on the main stages of numerous major music festivals.

He's fascinated by behavioural analytics and believes that his carefully developed combination of creativity and data-driven decision-making has supercharged his product design, growth, and optimisation skills.