Start-up Joice seeks to disrupt Jewish media market

The founders of a new media start-up want to “turn the way people consume Jewish media on its head” with a disruptive Web3 business model.

Joice – a shorthand for Jewish Voice –  has launched with an aim to offer a personalised experience to a young readership with more relatable content than incumbents in the space offer.

The platform will also allow creators – including brands and other publications – to earn monthly revenue from subscriptions and advertising, as well as branded content and an “Etsy-style shop”.

Joice was conceived by Marc Shelkin, founder of digital marketing agency The Social Shop, who believes Jewish newspapers all over the world are fixated on the same four topics: antisemitism, Israel, politics and the Holocaust.

Instead, Shelkin (pictured, below left) wants to create a greater media space for content around Jewish culture, music, arts, lifestyle, food and sport, as well as give greater representation to “LGBTQ+ Jews, Black Jews, and cultural Jews”.

His co-founders are Danny Somekh, founder of indie creative agency Huddle Creative, and Jessica Toledano, executive director at US non-profit media agency FY Eye.

Joice’s founders said they have received advice from global media leaders including Sir Martin Sorrell, David Sable, Stephen Allan, Stephen Dunbar-Johnson and Eamonn Store.

“Joice will turn the way people consume Jewish media on its head,” he said. “Our research has found that almost three-quarters of people are willing to contribute financially to the production of high-quality content and will pay up to £5-10 a month to consume content from their favourite creators.

“We have spent two years working and re-working what a new disruptive business model could look like in this space and how it could shake up a sector that has barely seen any changes for the last 20 years.”