Senior Counsel, Business & Legal Affairs (Music)

Roc Nation • New York, NY

5d • Onsite

About The Position

Roc Nation is seeking a Senior Counsel, Business & Legal Affairs to join their legal team in their New York City office. This role will provide day-to-day legal support across label, distribution, publishing, and artist management operations. The Senior Counsel will report to the Senior Vice President (Head) of Business & Legal Affairs and will collaborate closely with A&R, creative, marketing, finance, and operations teams. The position involves structuring, drafting, and negotiating deals while managing legal risk in a commercially minded way. This role offers broad, cross-functional exposure to the music business within a single organization.

Requirements

• 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
• Applicants for employment in the U.S. must possess work authorization which does not require sponsorship by the employer for a visa.

Nice To Haves

• Metaverse experience is a plus

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

Benefits

• 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)
• Free concert tickets
• Paid time off including paid holidays, sick time and floating days
• Career and skill development programs with School of Live
• 401(k) program with company match

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree