Public relations in the music industry has evolved far beyond press coverage and media placements. Now, brands are competing for something far more difficult to secure: cultural relevance.
With so many digital communities and creator partnership opportunities on shifting platforms, marketers are expected to reach as well as build audiences that feel connected. In other words, the age-old problem of being seen and heard persists.
So, how do you build these connections, and how do you stand out among the crowd?
Well, who better to speak with other than Alex Jukes, Co-Founder and Director of Jukebox? From live-event marketing and creator partnerships to Web3 startups and early-stage venture investment, his work focuses on helping brands earn relevance within exactly these spaces.
Jukebox's offering has expanded significantly beyond traditional music PR over the years. How did you approach brand positioning while scaling the business?
We honestly didn't sit there and decide, "Right, we're expanding". It was more that culture moved, and our clients' needs moved with it. They weren't just asking for press, they were asking, "How do we matter in this space?" or "How do we show up without looking like we're trying too hard?"
So, the positioning became pretty simple. We help brands and Founders earn relevance, not manufacture it. Scaling wasn't about stacking new services — it was about getting better at creating real outcomes across the places culture actually happens.
What are the key lessons marketers can learn from live-event marketing for digital community building?
Live events are a cheat code for understanding the community, because you can feel what's working in real time. You see what people respond to, what they repeat, what they ignore — and you can't hide behind metrics.
The big lesson is that loyalty comes from belonging, not reach.
Online communities are the same with shared moments, consistent identity and showing up regularly, which beats chasing spikes. Viral can be helpful, but it isn't the full strategy.
What are the marketing challenges startups face in the music-tech and Web3 space compared to traditional consumer brands?
With startups (especially in the world of Web3) you're often selling the "why" before the product is fully mature. You're asking people to adopt new behaviours, sometimes even a new mental model, and that means education is part of marketing — whether you like it or not.
The hard part is doing that without falling into hype. Audiences are sharp, they can tell when something's being over-hyped. The brands that win balance excitement with proof, and they're comfortable being specific instead of loud.
With Jukebox Ventures now backing early-stage startups, what do you look for in a Founder's marketing vision when you consider investment?
Clarity, first and always. I also look for whether they genuinely understand who's adopting first, not "everyone", but the actual early adopters and why they care.
The strongest founders treat brands like infrastructure. It's how trust is built, how community forms and how adoption happens.
Influencer marketing is becoming quite the norm. How do you evaluate whether a creator partnership is delivering real audience value rather than just short-term visibility?
We look at past impressions pretty quickly. Reach matters most, but it's not the point. We care about engagement quality, sentiment and whether the partnership feels like it makes sense for the creator and their audience.
If it feels forced or transactional, people switch off. The best creator relationships build over time, they don't look like ads and look more aligned.
Many brands are rethinking their reliance on third-party platforms. From your perspective, what parts of audience relationships should brands be owning directly rather than outsourcing?
Their direct channels and their data, no question. Platforms are rented space and the rent can go up overnight when the algorithm changes.
Social is great for discovery, but the relationship needs to live somewhere you control such as email, SMS, community infrastructure — whatever fits the brand! That's how you build resilience and that's what most brands only realise after they've been burned once.
Did you find this Q&A insightful? Let us know in the comments section below.
*Image courtesy of contributor and Canva