VP, Business & Legal Affairs

Job Description:

At Warner Music Group, we’re a global collective of music makers and music lovers, tech innovators and inspired entrepreneurs, game-changing creatives and passionate team members. Here, we know that each talent makes our collective bolder and brighter. We are guided by four core principles that underpin everything we do across all our diverse businesses:

• Music is Everything: Music is our passion, and we can never get enough. Tastes, trends, and tech will change, but great artists and songwriters will always be our driving force.

• Global Growth, Local Expertise: Music is a global language. Through communication and collaboration, our success can come from anywhere and translate everywhere.

• Innovation and Insight: Pushing the boundaries requires the best information and the boldest imagination. We use both to create the future.

• Empowered by People: Like the artists we serve and the music they make, our differences make us stronger. This is a place where every talent can belong and build a career.

​WMG is home to a wide range of artists, musicians, and songwriters that fuel our success. That is why we are committed to creating a work environment that actively values, appreciates, and respects everyone.  We encourage applications from people with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences.

Job Title: Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs

A little bit about our team:

We are a dynamic, diverse, and dedicated group of professionals with a passion for music who provide general counseling to Warner Records on a wide range of business and legal issues. We value hard work, fine-tuned listening, and a forward-thinking approach. We work closely with every department at the label and focus on structuring the label’s business and legal relationship with each of our artists.

Your role:

You will have the chance to make a significant and tangible contribution to the creation and release of our artists’ music. You will be directly involved in all business and legal aspects of the process, from recording to marketing to other activities surrounding artist projects. In a rapidly ever-changing industry, you will be challenged to make the most of your existing skills while learning new ones. The Warner Records culture will challenge you to make the most of your skills while providing ample opportunity to grow as an attorney and an executive!

Here you’ll get to:

• Negotiate and draft a variety of music and entertainment-related agreements, including recording, label, license, producer, mixer, soundtrack, termination/release, and merchandise, along with related memos and summaries

• Advise and support A&R, marketing, video, commerce, promotion, royalties, international, and other departments regarding contractual and legal obligations

• Partner with A&R administration regarding clearances, budgets, approvals, and general counseling

• Collaborate with Finance to develop deal analyses

• Review and vet artwork, label copy, videos, and other assets and materials

• Provide counseling and policy guidance regarding the label’s content distribution and other business activities

• Investigate, analyze, and respond to claims and disputes, including copyright, audit, breach of contract, publicity, and trademark, and coordinate with the corporate legal department regarding dispute resolution strategies

About you:

• You are incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about music.

• You have a J.D. from top law school plus membership in good standing in one state bar (preferably New York or California).

• You have at least 12 years of post-bar experience, including 8-10 years in a major record label business and legal affairs department, in-house legal department, law firm, or similar experience.

• You have outstanding negotiating, drafting, organizational, and oral and written communication skills.

• You have a proven track record working independently within a team-oriented environment.

• You consistently and effectively meet deadlines while working under pressure, managing multiple assignments at any given time, and prioritizing them effectively and appropriately.

We’d love it if you also had:

• Strong business and financial knowledge.

• In-depth understanding of the areas of the law applicable to the music business, including copyright, trademark, contract, rights of publicity, etc.

About us:

As the home to 10K Projects, 300 Elektra, Asylum, Atlantic, East West, FFRR, Fueled by Rame