There seems to be no stopping Swedish DJ and record producer Tim Bergling, better known by his stage name Avicii.

His concerts fill arenas, he’s been ranked among the world’s top DJs and he is continuously being hailed for his innovative collaborations.

To add to all that, Spotify recently announced that his track “Wake Me Up” was the most streamed song of all time, beating numbers by giants such as Elvis Presley and Bruce Springsteen.

Behind the great artist is a great manager: lawyer, Ash Pournouri.

Ranked by music magazine Billboard as one of the world’s most influential music executives, Pournouri runs his company, At Night Management, from the heart of Stockholm.

“Living in Stockholm and working with the entire world gives special perspectives,” Pournouri said in an interview. “There’s a lot of inspiration here since people generally are very aware of the surrounding world; that’s something that’s clear in peoples’ expression.”

With a master’s degree in law under his belt, Pournouri first made his name as a hard-nosed promoter in Stockholm’s electronic music scene. In 2008, Pournouri spotted the then 18 year-old Avicii on an online portal and instigated an immediate get-together.

Still only 22, the boyish musician – under Ash’s guidance – has achieved more success than most other artists could ever hope to in a lifetime.
The creation of brand Avicii and its global success could be applied to any other business industry or product, Pournouri said.

“What we have built for Avicii is naturally unique. But basically it’s all about long term planning,” he said. “As a manager your job is to sell your artist and the music. All businesses need sales where marketing is a part of the sales process.”

Pournouri and his team now aim to increase the company’s portfolio by adding more artists and continuing to promote Swedish music internationally. Currently, he works with the DJ duo, Cazzette, made up of Sebastian Furrer and Alexander Björklund.

Pournouri recently launched his own record label, PRMD, and also plans to launch a new studio complex in central Stockholm. His ambition is that the new studio will be “a music hub for creative people in the music industry”.

His success with Avicii has not gone unnoticed, with Elite Daily hailing him as “a marketing genius”, while Beatport News commended his “daredevil marketing tactics”.