'Godfather of Black Music' Clarence Avant has died

 

Clarence Avant attends the world premiere of the documentary© Newser

Clarence Avant, the judicious manager, entrepreneur, facilitator, and adviser known as the "Godfather of Black Music" who helped launch or guide the careers of Quincy Jones, Bill Withers, and many others, has died. He was 92. Avant, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles, according to a family statement released Monday morning. Avant's achievements were both public and behind the scenes, as a name in the credits, or a name behind the names, the AP reports. Born in a segregated hospital in North Carolina, he became a man of lasting and wide-ranging influence, in part by minding two pieces of advice from an early mentor, the music manager Joe Glaser: Never let on how much you know, and ask for as much money as possible, "without stuttering."

He broke in as a manager in the 1950s, with such clients as singers Sarah Vaughan and Little Willie John and composer Lalo Schifrin, who wrote the theme to Mission: Impossible. In the 1970s he was an early patron of Black-owned radio stations and, in the 1990s, headed Motown after founder Berry Gordy Jr. sold the company. He also started such labels as Sussex (a hybrid of two Avant passions—success and sex) and Tabu, with artists including Withers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the SOS Band, and an obscure singer-songwriter, Sixto Rodriquez, who decades later became famous through the Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugarman. (Rodriguez died last week.)

Other work took place more quietly. Avant brokered the sale of Stax Records to Gulf and Western in 1968, after being recruited by Stax executive Al Bell as a bridge between the entertainment and business industries. He raised money for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, helped Michael Jackson organize his first solo tour, and advised Narada Michael Walden, LA Reid, and Babyface, and other younger admirers. "Everyone in this business has been by Clarence's desk, if they're smart," Quincy Jones liked to say of him. Avant's influence extended to sports. He helped running back Jim Brown transition from football to acting and produced a primetime television special for Muhammad Ali.

Recommended video: Celebrities Pay Tribute To Clarence Avant, Who Died Aged 92 (unbranded - Entertainment)

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Besides his Rock Hall induction, his honors included two honorary Grammys, an NAACP Image Award, and a BET entrepreneur award. Avant met Jacqueline Gray, a model at the time, at an Ebony Fashion Fair in mid-1960s and married her in 1967. In 2021, Jacqueline Avant was murdered in their Beverly Hills home. They had two children: Music producer-manager Alexander Devore and Nicole Avant, the former US ambassador to the Bahamas.

DraftKings Leverages Radio For NFL-Focused Marketing Blitz

 

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Story by Inside Radio

With the 2023-2024 NFL season just a few weeks away, DraftKings is rolling out a major marketing campaign to lure new bettors to its app. All audio channels, including radio, podcast, and streaming, are part of the media mix through the NFL season. A fresh batch of spots focus on the new tagline “The crown is yours.”

“We will be leveraging radio to push football this season,” a DraftKings spokesperson tells Inside Radio, “with exciting promos for customers.”

The new audio spots launch Aug. 28. While the sportsbook isn’t divulging specifics of the campaign, DraftKings is known to strategically scale its marketing initiatives throughout key moments during the NFL season.

Sports books typically allocate the largest chunk of their media investments during NFL season, when they are most likely to attract new customers. “This is the most important time of the year. This is when we acquire the most customers, when we have the biggest opportunity to gain more market share, to where we generate the most revenue, we'll generate the most [earnings],” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said in an earnings conference call last week, as reported by Ad Age.

The TV blitz for DraftKings begins a week earlier on Aug. 21 with a new spot that once again features comedian and longtime spokesperson Kevin Hart along with former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. In addition to the star power, new user offer and comedic tone, the ad tees up “The crown is yours” tagline, which aims to position DraftKings as offering the best possible experience for their customers. The new tagline will also be highlighted across DraftKings’ digital and social channels.

The new campaign comes as competition is heating up in the lucrative online sports betting vertical. Casino operator Penn Entertainment last week inked a $2 billion deal with Disney that will see the online Barstool Sportsbook gaming app rebranded as ESPN Bet this fall. The deal also involves Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy buying back the stake in the bro lifestyle brand he sold to Penn three years ago.

Disney’s deal with Penn marks its biggest investment in sports betting to date. Under the ten-year licensing deal with Penn, ESPN agrees to pay $1.5 billion in cash with warrants to buy about $500 million of Penn stock. But as it enters a crowded marketplace, Disney believes its ability to promote ESPN Bet across its radio, television and online properties will offer it an advantage. “ESPN Bet will be deeply integrated with ESPN’s broad editorial, content, digital and linear product, and sports programming ecosystem,” Penn CEO Jay Snowden said. “Penn’s ability to leverage the leading sports media brands in both the U.S. and Canada with ESPN and the Score, combined with our newly launched sports betting app, will allow us to significantly expand our digital footprint and catapult ESPN Bet into a strong podium position in this space.”

According to data compiled by Ad Age from sports betting analyst Dustin Gouker, Penn’s Barstool Sportsbook cornered less than 5% market share among sportsbooks. DraftKings and FanDuel combined controlled 75% of the market, with FanDuel pulling in 47% of revenue and DraftKings getting 28%.

The U.S. set a gambling record of $55 billion in 2022, according to data from the American Gaming Association. In a race for awareness and market share, gambling advertisers followed suit, upping their media investments 40% year over year to $866 million last year, according to MediaRadar. The spending increases came in each quarter of 2022 with Q4 attracting the largest spend, due to the NFL season, which sees the most betting action by far.

Mobile sports betting launched in Massachusetts on March 1, spurring an influx of sports book advertising in the Boston market. For Beasley Media Group’s Boston cluster, led by “98.5 The Sports Hub” WBZ-FM, the new category delivered a $1.5 million windfall during the second quarter. That’s up from just $170,000 during the same period last year.

Air Talent Worry About Losing Their Job To AI But Say It Could Bring Efficiencies to Their Work

 

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Story by Inside Radio

A majority of on-air talent (54%) say COVID changed the culture at their radio station, especially those working for the nation’s largest radio companies. And the vast majority (two thirds) lean negative about AI’s impact on radio. Nearly half believe AI will have a negative short-term impact on their radio careers. These are among the topline findings from Jacobs Media’s “AQ5,” the Detroit-based consultancy’s fifth annual survey of radio on air talent, presented Thursday at Don Anthony’s Morning Show Boot Camp in Dallas.

Even with COVID in the rear-view mirror and many talent having returned to the on-air studio, four in ten say that they have not yet nailed down a work/life balance, although that sentiment is less prominent among Baby Boomers and is down seven percentage points from last year’s survey.

While it may not qualify as a news flash, the trend for radio hosts to have more duties. Lots more.

The Jacobs Media survey shows more than one-third of respondents now wear four or more hats, meaning they may now juggle programming, working on air for more than one station or serving as music director or promotion director. Only 18% of survey participants say they wear just one hat. And in the age of voicetracked radio, about half say they are doing at least some voicetracking. The trend is consistent across companies of all sizes, from the big consolidators to Mom & Pop shops, and across all market sizes.

The top skills air talent believe are necessary for being successful on the air in 2023 are not technical skills, being able to shoot or edit video or the ability to make TikTok videos. Instead they have everything to do with being an effective storyteller. Eight in ten say storytelling skills are essential, followed by being in public/meeting listeners (68%), reading effective endorsement ads (65%), and being a good public speaker (63%).

Money Matters and Side Hustles

Most survey takers say they are in good shape financially – 40% indicate they are “comfortable” and 17% say they are “making it.” But four in ten say they are in debt or struggling.

To make ends meet, three in ten radio air talent say they have had to take a second or third job. While the majority (60%) have not taken on an additional job, 24% of respondents say they have and 9% say they have taken on a third job to stay afloat financially. Additionally, the survey found that nearly three in ten air talent (28%) are involved in a second business. Of those who have ventured into a second business, 29% are male, and 26% are female. Breaking it down by age, 21% of GenX respondents have started or invested in a secondary business, followed by 27% of Boomers, and 24% of Millennials.

With hundreds and hundreds of the most viable radio stations owned by just a handful of companies, it comes as no surprise that more than a third (35%) of the sample work for one of the big radio companies, compared to 22% for a medium-sized company. One in four (24%) are employed by a small company and 16% hang their hat in a Mom & Pop shop.

And while it is sharply lower than pre-COVID, air talent are more apt to recommend working at their station than they were in 2021.

Suggesting it’s time for an industrywide Hug Your Morning Host Day, a majority of talent surveyed (85%) agree or strongly agree with the statement, “Overall, talent in radio is taken for granted.”

What’s the outlook for the radio industry from the perspective of the jocks behind the mic? A majority (51%) feel broadcast radio will hold its own over the next five years but few see it growing much.

Most people get into radio because of their love for the medium and the survey finds those inner fires still burn brightly: two in three say they are passionate about radio and two thirds believe it’s possible to achieve their radio dream.

Mixed Feelings About AI

“AQ5” is positioned as “Radio Talent In the AI Era” and the survey finds that radio talent are familiar with AI: 35% say they are “very familiar” and 58% “somewhat familiar” with the technology. Only 9% say they are “not familiar.”

The vast majority (two thirds) lean negative about AI’s impact on radio. That breaks down to 22% who see its impact as being “very negative and 43% say “somewhat negative.” Nearly half believe AI will have a negative short-term impact on their radio careers.

The big concern? Job loss. Three in four agree or strongly agree with the statement that “AI technology will lead to many more on-air radio jobs being lost.” But there is an upside to artificial intelligence being used at radio. Nearly half see it bringing efficiency to their job. And six in ten say they can adapt to AI.

The fifth annual AQ web survey was conducted July 6-19 among 442 currently employed talent and 60 unemployed commercial radio personalities in the U.S. The data is unweighted and does not represent all air talent.

Respondents skewed male, 45+ and Gen X with an average age of 51.3.

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