Job Summary:
Title: Senior Counsel, Business & Legal Affairs (Music)
Location: New York, NY (In-office, 5 days a week)
The Role:Roc Nation is seeking a Senior Counsel, Business & Legal Affairs to join our legal team in our New York City office and provide day-to-day legal support across our label, distribution, publishing, and artist management operations. Reporting to the Senior Vice President (Head) of Business & Legal Affairs, this role will work 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.
This is an excellent opportunity for an attorney who wants broad, cross-functional exposure to every facet of the modern music business within a single organization.
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
Applicants for employment in the U.S. must possess work authorization which does not require sponsorship by the employer for a visa.
Benefits & PerksHEALTH: 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
Note - Roc Nation benefits and policies differ from Live Nation
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.
Live Nation Entertainment will never request payment or equipment purchases as part of the hiring process. Recruiters will only contact candidates from official Live Nation or affiliated brand email domains.
