The story behind the props

backed. is an endorsement platform for musicians and their followers. Every artist gets a simple page where fans can back them directly — and a small, genuinely curated set of up to three other artists they recommend. We call those recommendations 'props'.

The discovery problem

Algorithmic discovery — Spotify, Instagram, TikTok — degrades our music diversity. On the maker side, it favours artists who already have traction. Getting visibility seems like a never-ending battle. On the listener side, our algorithmic recommendations feel too safe and impersonal.

Meanwhile, artist-to-artist cross-promotion already happens everywhere! Shout-outs, feature swaps, and collaborations take place continuously.
All we need is a space where this can happen more easily within the social media we already live in: think Instagram, TikTok or Youtube - to name a few.

What we're building

• A free, simple bio-link page for every artist — photo, links to whatever you already have, and a button that shows a backing's impact in estimated streams.
• A Top 3 list of artists you genuinely recommend. No cost to be listed, no pay-to-play — ever.
• A network effect that compounds: a fan visiting Artist A's page can click through to an endorsed Artist B, with the trust of the recommendation riding along.
• QR codes that turn live moments — the merch table, the end of a set, a livestream — into tip opportunities.

Why we think this works

A recommendation from an artist a fan already supports carries more weight than an algorithmic "fans also like". When discovery runs on human trust instead of engagement metrics, artists with zero existing audience finally have a way in: earn the respect of your peers, and their fans find you.

Being endorsed is free exposure to another artist's engaged fans. Being a good curator becomes a small, passive income stream once referral splits ship. Nobody pays to be listed, because paid listings would undermine the one thing that makes a prop meaningful: honesty.

What we believe

• Community judgment beats opaque ranking. A recommendation reflects a named person staking their own reputation, not a filter applied to mass behaviour. That's why we showwho endorsed someone, not just a count.
• Artists endorsing each other is a good thing. Two musicians who've genuinely rated each other for years is common in dense scenes — we allow mutual props rather than policing them, and rely on transparency instead.
• Local first. We're starting with a single, real scene: a known vocal group and the artists connected to it. Trust and verification come naturally at that scale.
• Honest money. Direct tips are free of platform fees. When referral splits arrive, we'll only make money on tips our network actually created.

Where we are now

We're early and we say so. Right now we're validating the core behaviour with a small pilot: do artists pick real recommendations, and do fans click through and back? The full platform — backing, profiles, QR codes, a browsable artist directory — follows in phases, and we won't expand beyond music until the mechanic is proven.

If that sounds like your scene,join the queue — we open scene by scene.