Clayton Durant is a seasoned marketing and music industry entrepreneur with deep expertise in music marketing, social media, and brand partnership strategy. He currently serves as an advisor to CAD Management, the entertainment and music consulting firm he founded in 2016. Under his leadership, CAD has collaborated with numerous artists and brands, crafting impactful partnerships — including an A&R initiative with SoundCloud’s artist services division, Repost — to deliver customized marketing and distribution plans that help emerging artists grow both on and off the platform.
Clayton has held prominent leadership positions outside of his work at CAD Management, most recently as Director of Emerging Media and Platform Strategy at MikeWorldWide. In this role, he not only led corporate and digital strategy for the firm's B2B and B2C clients but also built the firm’s AI adoption framework, spearheaded the development of two patent-pending AI products in influencer marketing and corporate reputation, and oversaw the enterprise-wide rollout of ChatGPT to more than 150 employees.
Earlier in his career, Clayton was Marketing Director at Rz3 Recordings, an Atlanta-based label founded by six-time GRAMMY-winning producer Tricky Stewart and managers Mark and Judi Stewart, where he spearheaded corporate communications and label marketing efforts.
In addition to his corporate and entrepreneurial endeavors, Clayton teaches as an Adjunct Professor at Long Island University’s Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment and New York University's Steinhardt Music Business program. Across both institutions, he educates students on artist management, music entrepreneurship, and the structure of the music industry.
A prolific writer, Clayton has contributed bylines to Adweek, Variety, Boardroom, Campaign US, EDM.com, Entrepreneur, Hypebot, and more. His insights on music, marketing, and the creator economy have also been featured by MarketWatch, Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Forbes, CNBC, Retail Dive, Billboard, and Metro UK to name a few.
He holds a BA in Public Relations and Marketing from Roger Williams University and an MA in Music Business from New York University.