Established in 2015, Create Music Group is a leading music and entertainment company. The company operates as a record label, distribution company, and entertainment network which generates over 15 billion music streams each month on DSP’s. Named #2 on the Inc 5000 Fastest Growth Companies in America in 2020, the company has grown exponentially by leveraging its owned IP with its media and technology platform. The company works with superstar artists, major and independent record labels, and global media brands. It operates a number of companies including Label Engine, one of the largest independent music distribution platforms in the world, with over 75,000 artists and 5,000 label clients; and Flighthouse, a digital entertainment brand focused on Gen Z, which has more than 300 million followers across social media. Create Music Group is based in Hollywood, CA and has 400 employees worldwide.
Job Summary
At Create Music Group, acquiring a catalog is only the beginning. The next step is turning each acquisition into a fully operational royalty business — accurately configured, scalable, and built to serve artists, partners, and rightsholders for the long term.
The Senior Manager, Royalty Administration & Onboarding plays a critical role in making that happen. This leader oversees the royalty onboarding strategy for newly acquired catalogs, translating complex deal terms into clear, effective royalty structures and workflows across Create’s systems. From interpreting acquisition agreements to designing the future-state setup, this role ensures every catalog is positioned for accurate and efficient royalty administration from day one.
As a key partner to our M&A, Finance, Legal, and Royalties teams, the Senior Manager is involved early in the acquisition lifecycle—including during diligence—to identify royalty requirements, surface potential gaps, and help shape a seamless transition into Create’s platform. The role works closely with the Director of Royalties and leads a growing team responsible for bringing each onboarding strategy to life.
This is an opportunity to sit at the intersection of music rights, acquisitions, operations, and technology at a company that continues to expand its global catalog and platform. We’re looking for a leader who understands the details of royalty administration but can also see the bigger picture: how to build scalable processes, navigate complex deals, and create an exceptional foundation for every catalog that joins Create Music Group.
Responsibilities
Own contract-to-system royalty interpretation company-wide: rates, splits, territories, escalators, cross-collateralization, recoupment, and defensible workarounds where a platform cannot implement a term literally.
Own the Royalties Readiness Gate for incoming acquisitions. Issue the go/no-go recommendation on every acquisition before it enters statement processing, with peer review from the Senior Manager, Royalty Accounting & Operations.
Own the handoff packet standard for incoming acquisitions. Every acquisition handoff states plainly what is final, what is assumed, and what remains open. No acquisition transfers to operations without one.
Lead contractual royalty obligation analysis for acquisitions, including a written risk/reward recommendation on onboarding methodology — migrate the label into our systems, or leave it on its existing platform.
Represent Royalties in M&A diligence from LOI. Own the royalty section of the diligence memo and the list of closing conditions Royalties depends on.
Own the team's project portfolio: expense validation tooling, bulk and automated ingestion of expenses, sales, and contracts, the M&A onboarding checklist, and automated metadata, contract, and payor template generation derived from statement analysis.
Own role-based access and configuration governance across all royalty systems. Define who may create clients, update splits, and alter contract terms — and enforce it.
Establish and enforce upstream intake requirements from other departments for expense, advance, and account-creation requests, so approved requests specify the opportunity, amount, and recipient before work is initiated.
Run prior-acquisition review: find and correct configuration and mapping errors from past integrations before they compound
Set, publish, and hold the KPIs for both integration and ongoing operations: time-to-royalty-ready per acquisition, post-close error rate, and Label Administration team throughput, quality, and escalation resolution at this role's level rather than the Director's.
Manage, mentor, and develop the Label Administration and Integration teams, including two people managers
Other related duties as assigned
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in music business, accounting, finance, business administration, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience; in lieu of a degree, 5+ years of applicable royalty administration and royalty operations experience in the music industry will be considered.
4+ years of relevant royalty administration or royalty operations experience
2+ years of people management experience, ideally including managing other managers, or clearly ready to step into that
A demonstrated track record of catalog integration or onboarding — you have migrated an acquired catalog onto a platform, not just administered one already in place
Hands-on experience translating contract terms — rates, splits, territories, escalators, cross-collateralization, recoupment — into system configuration. Experience handling advanced multi-layer royalty recoupment models and cross collateralization highly desirable.
Experience configuring an enterprise royalty or rights-management platform (Label Engine, Curve, Vistex Music Maestro and/or Record Maestro, Counterpoint, or SR1) at a configuration level, not just day-to-day operation
Able to read an acquisition agreement, schedule, or exhibit and identify what it requires of a royalty system before configuration begins
Judgment to design a defensible workaround when a platform cannot implement a contract term literally, and to document why
Experience owning access and configuration governance: defining who may create clients, update splits, or alter contract terms, and holding that line across departments
Excellent written and verbal communication, including writing a recommendation that a diligence or finance audience can act on
Organized and accurate across concurrent acquisitions at different stages and day to day administration of onboarded catalogs and direct signings
Bonus Qualifications
Experience with advanced royalty recoupment models and cross-collateralization
Experience representing a function in M&A diligence
Working knowledge of SQL against a cloud data warehouse: able to run and adapt a query to validate a configuration or a migration
Experience with template or tooling automation — metadata, contract, or payor template generation, or bulk ingestion of expenses, sales, and contracts
Familiarity with DDEX or DSR reporting standards
Experience with BI or reporting tools such as Sigma, Looker, Tableau, or Power BI
Background at a major label, large independent, or distributor
Pay Scale
$90,000 - $120,000 USD per year
The final compensation within this range will be determined based on the candidate’s experience, skills, and overall fit for the role.
Fair Chance Policy
In accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider employment for qualified applicants with criminal histories. We evaluate candidates based on their qualifications and the nature of the offense in relation to the job for which they are applying.
Create Music Group is a leading music and entertainment company established in 2015 that operates as a record label, distribution company, and entertainment network. The company generates over 15 billion music streams monthly across digital streaming platforms and was named #2 on the Inc 5000 Fastest Growth Companies in America in 2020. Create Music Group operates several subsidiaries including Label Engine, one of the world's largest independent music distribution platforms serving over 75,000 artists and 5,000 label clients, and Flighthouse, a digital entertainment brand focused on Gen Z with more than 300 million social media followers. The company works with superstar artists, major and independent record labels, and global media brands, leveraging owned intellectual property alongside its media and technology platform.
