Senior Counsel, Business & Legal Affairs (Music)

About the role

Senior Counsel, Business & Legal Affairs (Music) based in New York, NY (In-office, 5 days a week). Reporting to the Senior Vice President (Head) of Business & Legal Affairs, this role will provide day-to-day legal support across the label, distribution, publishing, and artist management operations, working closely with A&R, creative, marketing, finance, and operations teams to structure, draft, and negotiate deals while managing legal risk in a commercially minded way.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of music industry agreements across the company’s label, distribution, publishing, and management businesses, including but not limited to recording artist agreements, distribution agreements, co-publishing and administration agreements, producer agreements, sync and master use licenses, artist management agreements, and production agreements
• Provide supervised legal counsel to internal business teams on deal structuring, contract interpretation, rights issues, and day-to-day legal questions arising across all business lines
• Conduct copyright ownership and chain-of-title research, including work-for-hire analyses and sample clearance review, and advise stakeholders on associated risks and approvals
• Support royalty-related inquiries by working with finance and royalty administration teams to interpret contractual terms, respond to royalty claims, and assist with audit-related matters
• Maintain and improve template agreements, form libraries, and internal legal processes to increase efficiency and consistency across the organization
• Monitor developments in copyright law, AI-generated content regulation, collective bargaining agreements, and other areas of the evolving music industry legal landscape, and flag relevant issues to senior leadership
• Collaborate cross-functionally with A&R, creative, marketing, digital operations, and finance teams, serving as a trusted and accessible legal resource throughout the organization
• Other duties, as assigned

Qualifications

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school
• Member of the New York Bar in good standing preferred or willingness/qualified to be registered In-House Counsel required
• 3+ years of progressive legal experience in the music industry, with meaningful exposure across recorded music, music publishing, and talent/artist management
• Prior experience at a major or independent label, distributor, music publisher, or entertainment-focused law firm is strongly preferred
• Working knowledge of U.S. copyright law as it pertains to musical compositions and sound recordings, collective bargaining agreements (AFM, SAG-AFTRA) where applicable
• Comfort operating in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment where priorities shift and multiple projects run simultaneously
• Sound judgment and the ability to assess and communicate risk proportionately — knowing when to flag an issue and when to move a deal forward
• Experience with the contractual issues surrounding non fungible tokens
• Metaverse experience is a plus

Benefits

• HEALTH: Medical, vision, dental and mental health benefits for you and your family with access to a health care concierge and Flexible or Health Savings Accounts (FSA or HSA)
• YOURSELF: Free concert tickets, paid time off including paid holidays, sick time and floating days
• CAREER: Career and skill development programs with School of Live
• WEALTH: 401(k) program with company match

Pay

The expected compensation for this position is $148,000.00 USD – $185,000.00 USD. Pay is based on a number of factors including market location, qualifications, skills, and experience.

Schedule

In-office, 5 days a week