Performers for Kidz Bop take the stage at a Kidz Bop concert
Juke, a Notre Dame student startup founded by Notre Dame alumnus Grif Eaton ’04, ’13 MBA, recently secured a 60-concert agreement with Live Nation, the world’s leading live entertainment company, to integrate Juke’s fan engagement platform into Live Nation's Kidz Bop Tour. This partnership will bring Juke's interactive features, such as live fan photo uploads, real-time song voting, and merchandise sales, to more than 60 venues across the United States this summer and fall.
Kidz Bop, a children’s music group, dominated Billboard’s number one kids album spot from 2010 to 2020 and has since evolved into a multi-media phenomenon with live shows and YouTube videos performing top pop songs in a family-friendly manner.
Eaton founded Juke in 2021, driven by the desire to enhance fan interaction during live concerts. He envisioned a platform that would elevate the engagement between artists and audiences, ultimately creating a richer experience for fans, performers and producers.
Juke is described by Eaton as a super-charged fan engagement platform for live music, sports and entertainment that allows fans to become part of the show. “When people opt-in to Juke during a live performance, they can request songs, share photos, buy souvenirs and win prizes,” Eaton said.
He added, “For artists and event producers, Juke provides access to fan contact data, enabling stronger relationships with fans, increased merchandise sales and ongoing communication for future events.”
Juke won the $50,000 grand prize at Notre Dame's 2021 McCloskey New Venture Competition.
The partnership with Live Nation began through a simple introduction by one of Juke’s advisory board members. “Live Nation was impressed by the interactivity we bring to live events and thought we would make a great fit for the Kidz Bop tour,” Eaton said. “The Kidz Bop executives saw the potential for Juke to bring their tour slogan, ‘For Kids, By Kids,’ to life.”
Given the meticulously scripted nature of events like Kidz Bop, integrating Juke into the tour required careful planning. Eaton worked closely with the Kidz Bop creative team to determine which Juke features to include and how they’d be deployed during the shows.
“Since Juke is new, the Kidz Bop production team was cautious about going ‘off script,’ so they limited their fan engagement features to five," Eaton said. "The goal was to create a meaningful experience for fans and execute it exceptionally well. It was a great strategy."
The features selected for the tour include a live feed on the main video screen showcasing fan-uploaded photos, videos, comments and song requests. Other highlights include a song “battle” where fans vote on the final song the Kidz Pop team will perform, a digital photo booth that combines fan selfies with a Kidz Bop border, merchandise sales and a Kidz Bop bundle giveaway.
As the tour has progressed, positive feedback on Juke's impact began pouring in from the Kidz Bop team. The emcee noticed a significant increase in fan engagement as she explained how kids and parents could upload photos to the venue’s video screen. Intermission, typically a slow period at live concerts, transformed into a highly interactive time with fans scanning the Juke QR code, uploading photos and voting for their favorite songs. During the second half of the show, Kidz Bop artists actively engaged with fans, encouraging them to vote on the final song.
“The data we’ve collected from the performances so far supports our expectations of high fan engagement,” Eaton said. “Juke’s model has proven to be highly effective with the Kidz Bop tour.”
Amanda Andrews, vice president of global touring for Kidz Bop, echoed this sentiment: "Juke is the most interactive development I've encountered in over a decade of working in live entertainment,” Andrews said. “It has completely transformed our shows, infusing them with an unexpected level of energy from our fans. Initially, integrating the audience live during the show seemed like a technical challenge, but Juke made the process incredibly easy. We’re capturing more fan data than ever before and increasing our revenue. We now can't imagine our shows without Juke."
With three months remaining in the Kidz Bop tour, there is still much to learn and measure from the data. Eaton is already looking ahead to the 2025 Kidz Bop tour and other engagements with Live Nation. “We’ve barely scratched the surface of what Juke can do for Kidz Bop and, more importantly, Live Nation and its many other live events.”
Juke is also anticipating a Toby Keith tribute show that will air on NBC in late August. Filmed in Nashville before a live audience, the show included 20 artists such as Jelly Roll, Darius Rucker and Lainey Wilson. Universal, which produced the show, used Juke to raise money for Keith’s charity. Another client, the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League, is heading into its second season of amplified fan engagement with Juke.
“Juke is a paradigm shift for live entertainment, connecting fans with artists and athletes in new and powerful ways that significantly increase engagement,” Eaton said. “And to think it all started with my wanting a better way to request artists play a favorite song of mine.”