Senior Counsel, Business & Legal Affairs (Music)

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 & Perks

• 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
• Note – Roc Nation benefits and policies differ from Live Nation

We aspire to build teams that reflect and support the fans and artists we serve. Every day we aim to promote environments where everyone can be themselves, contribute fully, and thrive within our company and at our events. As a growing business we will encourage you to develop your professional and personal aspirations, enjoy new experiences, and learn from the talented people you will be working with. Roc Nation strongly supports equal employment opportunity for all applicants regardless of age (40 and over), ancestry, color, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), family and medical care leave or the denial of family and medical care leave, mental or physical disability (including HIV and AIDS), marital status, domestic partner status, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information, military and veteran status, political affiliation, national origin (including language use restrictions), citizenship, race, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), gender, gender identity, and gender expression, sexual orientation, intersectionality, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law, rule, ordinance or regulation. We will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinance, San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act and consistent with other similar and / or applicable laws in other areas. We also afford equal employment opportunities to qualified individuals with a disability. For this reason, Roc Nation will make reasonable accommodations for the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an applicant consistent with its legal obligations to do so, including reasonable accommodations related to pregnancy in accordance with applicable local, state and / or federal law. As part of its commitment to make reasonable accommodations, Roc Nation also wishes to participate in a timely, good faith, interactive process with a disabled applicant to determine effective reasonable accommodations, if any, which can be made in response to a request for accommodations. Applicants are invited to identify reasonable accommodations that can be made to assist them to perform the essential functions of the position they seek. Any applicant who requires an accommodation in order to perform the essential functions of the job should contact an HR Representative to request the opportunity to participate in a timely interactive process. Roc Nation will also provide reasonable religious accommodations on a case-by-case basis.

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. Established in 2008, Roc Nation is the leading global entertainment organization. Headquartered in New York, the company conducts business operations worldwide — maintaining offices in Los Angeles, London, and Brazil. Roc Nation’s recognition as a world-renowned entertainment company comes, in part, from the all-encompassing range of services we provide our clients. Whether building careers and brands from the ground up or championing the ongoing success of our talent roster, we continue to revolutionize and redefine the business of entertainment. Roc Nation’s diverse client portfolio includes many of the most celebrated recording artists, producers, songwriters, and athletes. Each of our clients are given access to the full scope of our cutting-edge capabilities - from artist management, music publishing, international distribution, touring, production, strategic brand development, and more. We form partnerships with experts who break the mold in industries such as media, entertainment, technology, music management, fashion, and philanthropy to support our clientele. Roc Nation proudly represents musical phenomenon such as Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Lil Uzi Vert, Megan Thee Stallion, and Fat Joe — securing massive brand collaborations, selling record-breaking concert tours, and producing history-making events across every facet of our company. Bridging music and sports, in 2019, Roc Nation partnered with the National Football League (NFL) as the organization’s live music entertainment strategist. Since then, Roc Nation has produced award-winning Super Bowl Halftime shows, bringing in notable headliners such as The Weeknd, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, and Usher. The first of its kind, the Roc Nation-NFL collaboration has seen massive success, making history as the first Super Bowl Halftime Show to win an Emmy award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) in 2022, followed by another Emmy win in 2023 for Outstanding Directing For A Variety Special. Additionally, the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show starring Kendrick Lamar broke the viewership record with 133.5 million people tuning in to watch the performance. Roc Nation Sports In 2013, Roc Nation Sports launched to offer specialized services that cultivate long-term career growth opportunities for athletes. To best support our roster of athletes on and off the field at a global scale, Roc Nation Sports creates and executes strategic marketing and endorsement deals, brand collaborations, and facilitates media relations, as well as coordinates philanthropic opportunities, among other offerings. We represent renowned athletes such as Dez Bryant, Jaire Alexander, Skylar Diggins, Kevin De Bruyne, Robinson Canó, Mark Vientos, and many more. Team Roc Alongside business endeavors, Roc Nation supports communities around the world through its philanthropic division, Team Roc. Maintaining a commitment to activism and humanitarianism, Team Roc collaborates with partners to tackle inequities across four pillars: education, emergency relief and community goodwill, criminal justice, and health and wellness.