Artist Agreements & Clearances Manager

Who We're Looking for

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.

What You'll Do

Artist Releases & Agreements

• 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.

Sync and Misc. Clearances

• 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.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• 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.

Process & Systems Management

• 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.

Risk Management & Compliance

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

Skills & Experience

• 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.

Physical Demands for Certain Roles

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, and sit for long periods of time, and work at a computer for long periods of time.

Salary and Benefits

The starting salary for this position is $64,400 to $70,800 per year, benchmarked against industry standards. Salaries for positions required to be in specific geographic locations reflect the corresponding labor market.

The actual offer extended will depend on the candidate's experience, qualifications, and the role's requirements. Positions working 20+ hours per week also receive our comprehensive benefits package (with medical, dental, and vision coverage, a 401k match, generous paid time off, and more). Click here for an overview of our company benefits.

Explore our career opportunities to join a team that values creativity, innovation, and diversity.

Recording Academy

The Recording Academy represents the voices of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and all music professionals.

Dedicated to ensuring the recording arts remain a thriving part of our shared cultural heritage, the Academy honors music's history while investing in its future through the Grammy Museum, advocates on behalf of music creators, supports music people in times of need through MusiCares, and celebrates artistic excellence through the Grammy Awards-music's only peer-recognized accolade and highest achievement.

As the world's leading society of music professionals, we work year-round to foster a more inspiring world for creators.

Latin Recording Academy

The Latin Recording Academy is an international, membership-based organization comprised of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking recording artists, musicians, songwriters, producers and other creative and technical recording professionals. The organization is dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for Latin music and its makers.

In addition to producing the Latin Grammy Awards to honor excellence in the recorded arts and sciences, The Latin Recording Academy provides educational and outreach programs for the Latin music community either directly or through its Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation.

Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation

The Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation is a charitable organization established by the Latin Recording Academy in 2014. The organization is dedicated to creating opportunities for the next generation of Latin music creators through scholarships, educational programs, grants, and access to creators and industry executives.

Musicares

A friend and ally of the music community, MusiCares was established by the Recording Academy to safeguard the health and well-being of all music people. A four-star charity and safety net in times of need, MusiCares offers confidential preventative, recovery, and emergency programs to address financial, medical, and personal health issues. Through the generosity of our donors and volunteer professionals, our dedicated team works across the country to ensure the music community has the resources and support it needs.

Grammy Museum

The Grammy Museum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating and exploring music from yesterday and today to inspire the music of tomorrow through music preservation, education, exhibitions, and public programming and aims to create a world in which shared love of music sparks curiosity, creativity, and community. Programs include Grammy in the Schools education programs that are offered year-round for students, teachers, and schools throughout the United States.