Director, Distribution (Music Nation)

BMI•Nashville, TN

About The Position

The Director, Distribution leads and oversees royalty distribution operations supporting Music Nation, including repertoire matching and identification, funds management, market share calculations, payment methodologies, quality assurance, and quarterly distribution processing. The role is a key operational leader in BMI’s delivery of Rights Administration and Distribution services to an international collective management organization, supporting both mechanical and performing rights. The position ensures repertoire integrity across publisher, writer, society, and Music Nation data sources, and aligns distribution practices with Music Nation’s licensing strategy and license agreements. It oversees controls, reconciliation, variance analysis, risk management, operational reporting, and process improvement, while partnering with internal teams, SoundExchange, societies, vendors, and other stakeholders. The Director also supports distribution platform requirements and enhancements and helps develop BMI’s multi-right and multi-territory administration capabilities. The role directly supervises managers, team leads, analysts, and/or operational specialists, with responsibilities including hiring, training, coaching, performance management, succession planning, workload prioritization, and employee development. The position involves normal office conditions, generally negligible physical effort with occasional movement of 1–10 lb. items, and up to 10% travel.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Extensive knowledge of music publishing, copyright administration, and collective rights management.
Minimum 8–10 years of progressive experience in music publishing, repertoire administration, copyright operations, collective management, or related rights distribution disciplines.
Experience managing teams and operational processes.
Expert knowledge of music publishing operations, repertoire administration, and royalty distribution methods.
Strong understanding of mechanical and performing rights distribution.
Excellent leadership, coaching, and employee development skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
Strong project and process management skills.
Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional initiatives.
Ability to balance strategic priorities with day-to-day operational execution.
Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills.
Experience analyzing large datasets and identifying data integrity issues.
Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and enterprise business systems.
Commitment to quality, accuracy, and continuous improvement.

Nice To Haves

Concentration in Music Business, Business Administration, Information Systems, or a related field.
Experience with industry standards such as CWR, CAF, CISAC, and related music rights management frameworks.
Experience working with international repertoire administration and distribution.

Responsibilities

Lead royalty distribution activities supporting Music Nation, including matching and identification, funds management, methodology and market share management, and quarterly distribution processing.
Serve as Music Nation’s subject matter expert for royalty distribution standards and industry data exchange initiatives, representing the organization in industry forums and discussions with societies and other stakeholders.
Own quality assurance strategies for Music Nation’s quarterly distribution cycles, with a focus on radio, live concert, and general licensing markets.
Ensure distribution data integrity through production cycle monitoring, reconciliation testing, variance analysis, and issue resolution across internal systems and third-party data sources.
Identify, assess, and mitigate operational risks related to distribution processes, vendor inputs, and reporting outputs.
Monitor changes to Music Nation License Agreements and align distribution practices with those changes.
Coordinate appropriate onboarding of new licenses across the distribution supply chain, from inception through distribution.
Translate complex data into clear, actionable insights for operational, leadership, and external audiences.
Partner with the SoundExchange team on neighboring rights management and distribution for Music Nation.
Support prioritization, workload planning, and process improvement to ensure timely and accurate distribution outcomes.
Develop operational procedures, workflows, controls, and service standards for Music Nation royalty distribution management.
Improve data quality, operational performance, and processing accuracy through reporting, audits, and quality assurance reviews.
Own market share assessments used for license fee allocations and ongoing rate settings.
Collaborate with Licensing, Rights Administration, Customer Service, International Relations, Technology, and Product teams to support Music Nation business objectives.
Participate in business requirements definition, testing, implementation, and enhancement of Music Nation distribution platforms and supporting technologies.
Maintain compliance with BMI policies, industry standards, copyright requirements, and Music Nation service commitments.
Identify opportunities for automation, process improvement, and operational scalability.
Prepare and deliver operational metrics, readiness reporting, and executive updates to leadership.
Support Music Nation service readiness and the development of BMI’s multi-right and multi-territory administration and distribution capabilities.
Directly supervise managers, team leads, analysts, and/or operational specialists, including interviewing, hiring, training, coaching, performance management, succession planning, workload prioritization, and employee development.
Provide leadership across locations for operational resources supporting distribution activities.
Perform additional duties as assigned.