Legal Counsel - Music

SoundCloud empowers artists and fans to connect and share through music. Founded in 2007, SoundCloud is an artist-first platform empowering artists to build and grow their careers by providing them with the most progressive tools, services, and resources. With over 400+ million tracks from 40 million artists, the future of music is SoundCloud.

SoundCloud is looking for a commercially minded music lawyer with a strong aptitude for technology and deeply plugged into what’s happening across digital music licensing and the creator economy. You’ll play a key role in supporting global content licensing and commercial partnerships, working at the intersection of music, technology, and culture.

Based in New York, this role is part of the Music & Commercial Legal team within Business & Legal Affairs. You’ll support the VP, Music & Commercial, in negotiating licenses with record labels, publishers, collecting societies, and performing rights organizations (PROs) worldwide. You’ll also work closely with teams across Content Licensing, Music, Business Development, Product, Finance, and others to shape licensing strategies, evaluate deal structures, and help bring partnerships to life.

You’re a seasoned music industry dealmaker who’s comfortable leading complex negotiations and finding practical solutions in fast-moving, sometimes ambiguous environments. As a trusted subject matter expert, you’ll provide clear, commercially grounded guidance on music rights, while sharing knowledge and perspective across the legal team and the wider organization.

We’re looking for someone who’s excited by new challenges, collaborative by nature, and motivated by the opportunity to help shape how music and audio are created, discovered, and shared by creators and fans around the world!

Key Responsibilities:

• Support SoundCloud’s overall business by structuring and negotiating digital licensing agreements with record labels, publishers, collecting societies and PROs.
• Negotiate and draft marketing, partnership and joint venture agreements with commercial partners and music industry stakeholders
• Advise the Music, Marketing, Creator services, Royalty Operations, Finance teams, and other stakeholders regarding contractual obligations and restrictions
• Provide legal consultancy on music law questions and track of legal developments in the licensing area in the music industry
• Advise on intellectual property rights issues, including copyright and trademark
• Identify and analyze potential risks related to SoundCloud’s distribution of content on and off its platform, reputational risks in connection with working with certain artists or partners, and various contractual risks
• Lead pre-litigation efforts in investigating, analyzing, and responding to a variety of claims, including copyright, audit, breach of contract, publicity, and trademark claims
• Regularly direct and supervise the work of outside counsel
• Coordinate with product and engineering teams in connection with product development related to music distribution and royalty operations
• Collaborate with other members of the Business & Legal Affairs team to ensure business needs are met

Experience and Background:

• Qualified lawyer with 3+ years’ post-qualification experience in music and intellectual property licensing, gained at a prominent record label, law firm, or in-house legal department within the music industry
• Juris Doctor (JD) or equivalent law degree from an accredited institution and maintains an active, in good standing bar license in the U.S. or an equivalent foreign jurisdiction
• Good understanding of the global digital music rights landscape and substantial experience in negotiating international digital license agreements for or with digital services providers and/ or UGC platforms, with a primary focus on Europe
• Expertise in music industry transactions (record, distribution, producer, synchronization, and publishing agreements), artificial intelligence, and Web 3.0 technologies affecting music rights
• Proven ability to negotiate domestic and international commercial contracts, with working knowledge of the Music Modernization Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
• Experience working closely with music, operations, marketing, creative, licensing, and finance, with the ability to communicate complex matters and legal language simply and effectively to non-legal stakeholders
• Good relationships within the music, media, and/or consumer tech industry
• Strategic, commercially focused problem solver with a high tolerance for ambiguity and change
• Experience working in a dynamic, fast-paced environment
• Pragmatic, risk-conscious, and values-driven, with resilience and self-awareness
• Excellent drafting, communication and negotiation skills
• Fluent in English, and ideally one or more other European languages

The salary range for this role is $100,000 - $140,000 annually. The final salary offered will be determined based on relative experience, skills, internal equity, and location. We also offer a generous total rewards program - read more about additional benefits and perks below!

• We are a multinational company with offices in the US (New York and Los Angeles), Germany (Berlin), and the UK (London)
• We provide a flexible work culture that offers the opportunity to collaborate and connect in person at our offices as well as accommodating work from home
• We are deeply committed to ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels of our organization and fostering a community where everyone’s voice, perspective and experience is respected and heard
• We believe a strong team is made by investing in employees through mentorship, workshops and enrichment opportunities

• Comprehensive health benefits including medical, dental, and vision plans, as well as mental health resources
• Robust 401k program
• Employee Equity Plan
• Generous professional development allowance
• Interested in a gym membership, photography course or book? We have a Creativity and Wellness benefit!
• Flexible vacation and public holiday policy where you can take up to 35 days of PTO annually
• 16 paid weeks for all parents (birthing and non-birthing), regardless of gender, to welcome newborns, adopted and foster children
• Various snacks, goodies, and 2 free lunches weekly when at the office

SoundCloud is for everyone. Diversity and open expression are fundamental to our organization; they help us lead what’s next in music by understanding and empowering our creators and fans, no matter their identity. We acknowledge the challenges in the music industry, and strive to influence an inclusive culture where everyone can contribute respectfully and thrive, especially the historically marginalized communities that many of our creators, fans and SoundClouders identify with. We are dedicated to creating an inclusive environment at SoundCloud for everyone, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, migration background, national origin, age, disability status, or care-giver status.

At SoundCloud you can find your community or elevate your allyship by joining a Diversity Resource Group. Diversity Resource Groups are employee-organized groups focused on supporting and promoting the interests of a particular underrepresented community in order to build a more inclusive culture at SoundCloud. Anyone can join, whether you share the identity or strive to be an ally.