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A new app created by two Israeli entrepreneurs — including one who lives in Belmont — recently won first place for best app at a European mobile technology competition held in Barcelona. The app, Fansino, helps musicians connect with their fans.

Haran Wolfovitz Yaffe, 32, was living in Hamburg playing in an alternative rock band when he had the idea for the app. As an independent musician, he felt burdened by how much of his time was consumed connecting with fans on social media in order to build an audience.

So he founded Fansino and, with business partner Omri Erez, developed an app that gives artists the ability to monitor who is listening to their music online. Even though it is still in beta mode, the app won the “Oscar for Apps” (as dubbed by Geektime.com) at the Mobile Premier Awards last month.

“The Internet kind of promised us freedom from the bad guys of the record labels,” explained Yaffe, who ran a successful startup in Tel Aviv last decade and relocated to the Peninsula in 2013 to focus on Fansino. “Somehow we [musicians] all ended up being slaves to managing endless social media account — likes and follows and Instagrams. That’s a lot of work.”

The app provides users of music streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora with dedicated content feeds and notifications directly from musicians they like. In turn, Fansino provides musicians with information about who is listening to their music and who’s talking about them on social media.

“I want to be in the pocket of every touring band,” Yaffe said. “I want a band to wake up in the morning, hungover, dazed and confused, and I want them to pull the smartphone out of their pocket, open Fansino, reach out to their new fans, put the phone in their pocket and go back to sleep.” — drew himmelstein