Artist Agreements & Clearances Manager

The Artist Agreements & Clearances Manager is a cross-company role responsible for securing and managing artist agreements, releases, and content clearances in support of production and distribution across the Recording Academy and its affiliates. In this position, you will be a key liaison between internal stakeholders, artists, managers, labels, publishers, and legal teams, supporting events, series, exhibits, GRAMMY Studios programming, and expanding organizational objectives.

You are a detail-oriented professional with a genuine passion for music and the music industry. You excel at building and maintaining strong relationships, can balance creative needs with legal and company requirements, and are calm under pressure. You have a collaborative spirit and service mentality.

• Draft, negotiate, execute, and manage artist agreements and releases across all Recording Academy and affiliate productions, ensuring timely execution for live and pre-recorded content.
• Maintain organized records of all agreements, including rights granted, restrictions, and obligations.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to ensure content usage plans and artist negotiations are accurately reflected in contractual terms.

• Secure synchronization rights and related clearances for music and content use across all Recording Academy and affiliate platforms.
• Coordinate with record labels, publishers, PROs, and other rights holders to obtain necessary licenses.
• Track and manage rights by territory, media, term, and usage to ensure compliance.
• Oversee the license lifecycle, including payments, amendments, extensions, expirations, and archiving
• Troubleshoot and resolve clearance issues under tight production timelines.
• Support additional clearance needs, including artwork, likeness, podcast, and other media usage.

• Work with internal stakeholders early in the process to assess and address clearance, release, and agreement needs.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for all artist-related contractual and clearance matters.
• Clearly communicate requirements, risks, and timelines to internal and external stakeholders.

• Refine workflows for outreach, negotiations, contract execution, and rights tracking.
• Maintain and improve systems for documenting, tracking, and reporting rights and permissions.
• Keep standardized clearance process resources current and accessible.
• Identify opportunities to streamline processes, improve efficiency, and mitigate risk.

• Ensure content is cleared prior to distribution across all platforms.
• Flag risks and elevate issues appropriately.
• Stay current on music rights, licensing practices, and industry standards.

• Bachelor's Degree required.
• 5+ years' experience in music business affairs, content clearance, and music publishing.
• Paralegal experience and/or the ability to draft and review content licensing agreements and negotiate terms with knowledge of how smaller negotiations affect big-picture relationships.
• Established relationships with record labels, music publishers, and artist management.
• Proficiency in Spanish and/or Portuguese preferred.
• Exceptional organizational skills, attention to detail, and comprehensive follow-through.
• Flexibility to succeed in a fast-paced production environment with tight deadlines.
• Ability to manage multiple projects proactively and independently while providing cross-company support.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may…