Legal Counsel - Music

Sound Cloud empowers artists and fans to connect and share through music. Founded in 2007, Sound Cloud 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 Sound Cloud.

Sound Cloud 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!

• Support Sound Cloud’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 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 Sound Cloud’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.

• 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.
• Experie…