At Sony Music Publishing (“SMP”), we believe every voice matters. We are the #1 global music publisher, advancing the artistry of the world’s greatest songwriters and composers for over 25 years. We keep songwriters at the forefront of everything we do, and design our suite of services to amplify opportunities, build connections, and defend their rights. Our roster benefits from an international team committed to providing support at every career stage. From classic catalogues to contemporary hitmakers, history is always being written. We are a part of the Sony family of global companies. Learn more about SMP here.
About the Department
The Global Administration Department is dedicated to excellence in operational services, with a focus on accurate and timely royalty reporting, prompt registration of songs in copyright systems and society databases, as well as cross collaboration with A&R, Legal, Sync & Finance teams across the local and international organisations.
About the Role
The Senior Copyright Analyst plays a critical role within the Global Administration team, proactively supporting the accurate administration and management of our music publishing catalogue across multiple territories. The role works closely with international affiliate offices and collection societies to resolve complex copyright queries, ensure precise and timely work registrations, and uphold the highest standards of repertoire data quality. Success in this role requires strong analytical capability, meticulous attention to detail, and the confidence to independently investigate and resolve issues that impact rights accuracy and revenue. Operating as a trusted subject‑matter expert, the Senior Copyright Analyst strengthens global copyright operations and provides management with clear, actionable insights that inform decisions affecting catalogue integrity, operational efficiency, and business performance.
What You’ll Do:
Copyright Ownership & Rights Validation
- Analyse and validate complex ownership chains to ensure accurate rights attribution; this strengthens catalogue integrity and reduces downstream revenue risk, delivering clear insights to management on ownership positions that may impact income, disputes, or strategic decisions.
- Interpret agreements and assignments to confirm correct rights allocation and ensure compliance with contractual and operational requirements.
- Resolve escalated copyright conflicts and discrepancies to maintain accurate rights data; preventing revenue leakage and surfacing systemic issues requiring intervention.
- Assess ownership for new signings, catalogue acquisitions, and legacy repertoire to support accurate onboarding and administration.; this supports commercial readiness and informs management of any rights gaps affecting deal value or exploitation.
Metadata Governance & Catalogue Integrity
- Maintain high‑quality copyright metadata aligned with industry standards to ensure accurate registrations and claims; this reduces ingestion errors and equips management with data‑driven insights on catalogue health.
- Lead root‑cause analysis on recurring data issues to eliminate rework and strengthen operational controls improving efficiency and identifying structural issues requiring action.
- Analyse and manage large datasets of copyright and repertoire information to support accurate administration; this enhances decision‑making and provides management with evidence‑based insights on catalogue trends and risks.
- Identify tools, reporting, or data solutions that improve catalogue management and analysis; driving operational maturity and identifying opportunities for automation or investment.
Operational Delivery & Issue Resolution
- Complete manual work registrations and updates across societies and internal systems to ensure accurate and timely administration of repertoire; this safeguards rights accuracy, reduces downstream income issues, and provides management with clear insights into registration gaps, processing delays, and catalogue areas requiring operational focus.
- Manage and resolve copyright and society‑related queries from affiliates and internal teams to ensure timely and accurate rights administration; this supports global operations and surfaces insights for management on recurring pain points.
- Liaise directly with collecting societies and affiliate offices to ensure accurate registration and administration of works; this strengthens global alignment and provides management with visibility into society‑level issues affecting revenue.
- Investigate and resolve complex copyright‑related income issues, including misallocations and missing claims, protecting revenue while highlighting systemic issues requiring intervention.
- Support and deputise for the Senior International Copyright Operations Manager with day‑to‑day operational tasks to maintain workflow continuity; this ensures operational resilience and provides management with insights into capacity, bottlenecks, and process gaps.
- Support special projects across global copyright administration and catalogue management, contributing to strategic initiatives while driving continuous improvement and highlighting project-level risks, outcomes, and opportunities.
Stakeholder Collaboration & SME Support
- Be a trusted advisor to internal teams by providing clear, authoritative copyright guidance; this improves decision quality and ensures management receives accurate insights on rights‑related risks and dependencies.
- Communicate complex copyright positions clearly to non‑technical stakeholders to support operational clarity; this enhances cross‑functional alignment and provides management with actionable summaries of complex issues.
- Participate in regular meetings with affiliate offices to review queries, workflows, and catalogue issues; this strengthens global consistency and surfaces insights for management on affiliate performance and operational trends.
- Represent the copyright function in cross‑functional projects and system upgrades to ensure rights accuracy is embedded in design; this reduces future risk and informs management of required policy or process changes.
Continuous Improvement & Innovation
- Identify opportunities to improve operational processes and implement efficiencies within copyright workflows; this enhances productivity and provides management with recommendations for strategic optimisation.
- Contribute to the development of copyright policies, best‑practice guidelines, and training materials to strengthen organisational capability; this supports scalable growth and informs management of capability gaps.
- Monitor industry developments, regulatory changes, and society rule updates to ensure ongoing compliance; this protects the business from regulatory risk and equips management with forward‑looking insights that influence planning and strategy.
Who You Are:
Skills and Experience
- Strong understanding of copyright law, publishing rights and global society frameworks.
- Experience in music publishing copyright administration or rights management, with a solid grasp of end‑to‑end copyright workflows.
- Strong understanding of collecting societies and repertoire registration processes, including work submissions, updates, and conflict resolution.
- Experience working with international affiliates, sub‑publishers, or society partners, demonstrating confidence in cross‑territory communication.
- Proven experience analysing complex ownership chains, agreements, and rights documentation.
- Strong problem‑solving and analytical ability when investigating copyright or registration issues involving large datasets, with the ability to identify root causes and propose solutions.
- High proficiency working with large datasets, rights systems, and metadata standards (CWR, ISWC, ISRC, IPI).
- Highly detail‑oriented with strong organisational skills, able to manage competing priorities independently.
- Proactive and able to take initiative, demonstrating autonomy in resolving issues and driving tasks forward.
- Confident communicator able to work effectively with internal teams and international stakeholders, translating complex copyright positions into clear guidance.
- Exceptional analytical capability, accuracy, and attention to detail.
Desirable requirements
- Knowledge of multi‑territory society rules and regulations, including variations in registration and claiming practices.
- Familiarity with catalogue acquisitions, DSP metadata, or digital rights workflows, particularly where copyright accuracy impacts digital exploitation.
- Experience working with large catalogue datasets or repertoire management systems, with an understanding of data dependencies and ingestion processes.
- Familiarity with CWR registrations and society data standards, including validation rules and common error types.
- Experience using data storage, preparation, and visualisation tools such as AWS, Altair Data Prep Studio, Microsoft Power BI, and Python, supporting deeper analysis and operational insight.
- Experience contributing to process improvements or operational efficiencies, identifying opportunities to streamline workflows and reduce manual intervention.
What We Give You
- You join an inclusive, collaborative and global community where you can fuel the enhancement of professional publishing environment within a leading music publishing company
- Opportunities to work on global data initiatives and industry-facing projects.
- An attractive and comprehensive benefits package
- Enhanced family-friendly policies (maternity/paternity)
- We invest in your professional growth & development
Equal Opportunities
Sony Music Publishing is an equal opportunity employer and supports workforce diversity. We employ, retain, promote and otherwise treat all employees and job applicants according to their merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We apply this policy without regard to any individual’s sex, race, religion, origin, age, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition or disability.
