At SEVEN, social media is more than just a tool—it’s a way to build community, amplify our artist’s reach, and shape the future of the scene. Leading the charger us is Whitney Ajayi, a digital strategist with nearly a decade of experience in music marketing.
From running her own festival accessories business to working at Resident Advisor, Whitney has carved out a career at the intersection of music and social media. Now, she’s bringing her expertise to SEVEN to ensure our label’s presence online is as innovative and forward-thinking as our sound.
We sat down with Whitney to talk about her journey, her plans for SEVEN, and why social media is essential for labels today.
Q&A with Whitney Ajayi, Head of Social Media at SEVEN
Tell us a bit about yourself and something not many people know.
My university degree is actually in forensic science, but I fell in love with marketing when I started an online business selling cosmetic glitter and festival accessories after graduation.
It’s been all uphill from there!
When and how did you get into music and social media? Tell us a bit about your career so far.
I’ve always been a raver. My uni friend took me to a club in London called Lightbox, and I instantly fell for the music and the warm, welcoming vibe.
I learned about the Black origins of dance music in Detroit and Chicago, and that gave me a deep sense of purpose and pride in my love for electronic music. I like to think the dancefloor embraced me..
Professionally, I’ve been working in social media for nearly a decade. When I started, social media marketing wasn’t really seen as a “real” job, but I saw its potential early on. Two years into my business, I got accepted onto a young entrepreneurs’ incubator program and led organic marketing for a men’s underwear start-up as part of my placement.
My big break in music came when a festival I was planning to attend posted a job opening for a marketing assistant. I landed the role and ended up working across two international festivals (Kala and Snowbox), managing social media, marketing, and PR. It was intense but rewarding—there’s nothing like seeing a dancefloor full of happy faces after months of hard work.
In 2019, I joined Resident Advisor as a social media assistant (the second-ever hire in that team). Over five years, I worked my way up, managed social media across five platforms, and developed a disruptive short-form content strategy that pioneered how RA documents electronic music culture.
By the time I left in 2024, I had led a full-time team and freelancer network dedicated to social-first video content. Now, I run my own business as a social media strategist for brand founders and mostly music-adjacent businesses.
Now, I run my own business as a social media strategist for music-focused brands and businesses.
Why did you join SEVEN? What attracted you to the label?
Whitney Love Head of Social Media at SEVEN by Mara Menzel00004
I joined SEVEN because I believe in its mission to champion uplifting sounds, set new industry standards, and create truly inclusive spaces.
I also love the intersection between house and techno—it perfectly describes the music that has soundtracked some of my dearest memories over the years.
What will you be doing for SEVEN and its artists?
My role is to develop and evolve SEVEN’s social media strategy, ensuring it aligns with our values and goals.
Lots of our artists struggle with social media so my job is to build opportunities for them to promote their work which are easy and comfortable for them to take part in. We want to do the heavy-lifting for our artists so they don’t have to.
That includes everything from creating rollout plans for new releases to developing fresh content ideas and making sure our social media presence is beautiful, innovative, and authentic.
Do you think labels need to invest in social media, or should they let the music speak for itself?
It’s not about one or the other. Marketing – getting great music in front of the right people – has always been part of the process. Social Media is just the marketing channel that is most useful for the type of label we are.
At SEVEN we have two key jobs – get our artists’s music heard and then get them paid for their art. So being really good at social media is key for us to do that for our artists.
Labels should invest in social media because their job is to connect with their audience, share their sound, and nurture the next generation of producers, DJs, label owners, and fans. The key is doing it in a way that feels authentic so that people who resonate with your ethos can find you.
Many artists find social media overwhelming. How are you and SEVEN helping with that?
We totally understand that and that’s the whole point of what we are doing. Making it easy for our artists to reach new and existing fans. There is so much new good music released every day, if we don’t do this our artist’s music just won’t get heard.
Right now, we’re developing lots of options—from interview reels, to written articles, Mix of the Week videos to DJ mixes on You Tube —so artists never feel forced into something they’re uncomfortable with. We want to have enough options that every artist feels supported in doing what they are comfortable with.
In the future, I’d love to run SEVEN workshops and provide resources to help artists understand social media and show up as their true selves online.
What are your hopes for SEVEN in the next few years?
I hope we continue to grow and connect with our people both on and offline. I want us to be known as champions of positive change and to keep setting the bar for industry standards across the board.
Words: Glenn Elliott
Pictures: Mara Menzel