Royalty Accountant

Background
Partisan Records is an award-winning independent record label, founded in Brooklyn in 2008 by its President, Tim Putnam. With a strong presence in the UK and a global operation, Partisan Records is now considered to be a leader in the independent sector. They have become known for breaking new alternative artists, achieving commercial success with Cigarettes After Sex, IDLES, Fontaines D.C. to more recently Ezra Collective and Blondshell. Simultaneously, the label has further strengthened its reputation by being a trusted partner for legacy catalogs from the likes of Fela Kuti, Cymande and DJ Rashad. In addition, Partisan Records owns a music publishing company, Left Music, which operates as a separate, wholly owned entity with its own personnel and P&L.

Partisan Records’ overall vision is to be the most trusted music company for all artists of all genres, worldwide. The company’s mission is to uplift immediately identifiable voices that enhance the human condition, not exploit it.

Position Summary
Partisan is hiring a Royalty Accountant to join it’s Finance team. This full-time role reports to the Global Financial Controller and will work closely with the finance team to ensure accurate, timely royalty administration across the label’s global artist, publisher and producer roster.

Key Responsibilities

• Input all new recording, producer, and licensing contracts into Curve, ensuring terms are correctly interpreted and recorded.
• Enter all new release metadata into the Curve royalty system.
• Upload all sales and royalty reporting files into Curve on a monthly basis aligned with the financial close and match them accurately to the relevant contracts.
• Upload recoupable costs monthly into Curve and allocate them appropriately across contracts.
• Interpret complex producer royalty clauses and incorporate them into Curve’s contract setup.
• Ensure all uploaded international sales and cost data, particularly from UK operations, is accurately converted from GBP/EUR/AUD to USD using the appropriate exchange rates before being entered into Curve.
• Input all songwriter and publishing information and mechanical royalty rates into RoyaltyShare for all new releases.
• Upload all sales and royalty reporting files into RoyaltyShare on a monthly basis and match them accurately to the relevant compositions.
• AP & AR communication and management for all royalty payments and Advance payments needed.

• Perform sales and cost reconciliations each royalty period between Curve, ERP systems, and raw data sales reports.
• Address and resolve royalty-related queries from artists, managers, and third parties, with the guidance from the Global Controller, CFO & COO.
• Prepare and issue semi-annual artist royalty statements.
• Prepare and issue semi-annual third party / JV royalty statements.
• Prepare and issue quarterly mechanical royalty statements.
• Create semi-annual rendering summary reports for the accounting team and follow up with payees for necessary payment information.
• Gather and update royalty statement recipient’s contact information.
• Maintain active monthly forecast on all recoupment statuses for all artists.

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Business, or a related field.
• Experience in royalty accounting, music publishing, or contract administration, particularly in a Record label or Music Publisher setting.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to interpret contractual language.
• Experience using royalty systems such as Curve (Curve and RoyaltyShare preferred) and ERP/accounting software like QuickBooks.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (including pivot tables, VLOOKUPS, INDEX+MATCH).
• Familiarity with AI and the use of AI tools.
• Familiarity with Airtable.
• Excellent time management, communication, and organization skills.
• Able to work independently with a proactive, problem-solving mindset.