Music industry Careers

A Licensing Manager Job is a key job in the process of generating revenue and exposure for artists and record labels alike. In the new music industry, this role may be more important than ever before.

Licensing Manager Job Description

A Licensing Manager’s responsibility is to ensure that copyright owners are properly compensated each time their works are used or broadcast. You will have to pitch music that is in the company’s catalog to clients for projects such as TV and Film Production, Live shows, Commercials, Webisodes, Corporate Videos and more. Sometimes the companies will come to you, and other times you have to generate realistic leads. From there you will negotiate a deal, issue a contract, and collect the fee. This role involves daily tasks of monitoring and liaising with collection agencies, processing payments, and building databases of deals and opportunities.

Depending on the size of the company and structure, a Licensing Manager may specialize in Synchronization Licensing, Mechanical Licensing, Performance Royalties, or Copyright Licensing. As a Licensing Manager in a larger company, you would also oversee reports from your department, and resolve any disputes over licensing agreements and payments. You may lead and delegate to a Licensing Assistant, who may deal with issuing invoices, maintaining databases and other admin tasks. At smaller companies, you will have to manage a combination of everything.

What Skills are Required for a Licensing Manager Job?

Your job as a Licensing Manager will demand several different skill sets: you must have encyclopaedic knowledge of your company’s catalog, being able to recommend the right songs for the right use each time. You must be fluent with all areas of music publishing and copyright laws and their history, for different territories and industries – for example, if you are working at a publisher for a record comanpy, then you will need to understand both the copyright of recordings and the copyright of the work itself. You must also have excellent organizational and people skills, dealing with film companies, ad execs, performing rights societies and artists all at the same time.