{"contentVo":{"id":2117,"contentType":"article","title":"Spotlight On...Brandon Tatum, Director of Business & Legal Affairs, SoundCloud","teaser":"

At Akin Gump: Associate, Los Angeles, 2008-2009, Summer Associate 2005 and 2006

After Akin Gump:

The Microphone Sessions LLC; Molina Health Care; Red Bull; Audity Music LLC; Anderson Mori & Tomotsune; SM Entertainment; SoundCloud

Education:

University of Southern California Gould School of Law, JD; London School of Economics and Political Science, Master of Laws, Intellectual Property; Globis University, Tokyo, MBA; Emory University, BA

Additional affiliations: Association of Corporate Counsel, Beverly Hills Bar Association, Los Angeles County Bar Association, AIM 4 The Heart, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., The Isamu Noguchi Foundation of Japan, Roppongi Bar Association

Career advice: "It's very difficult to be an effective leader of a multinational, to represent clients of other cultures as a lawyer, or to connect with others as an artist if you have not spent time learning about and experiencing other cultures. Ideally, one gains this experience through international travel. Get out of this country! It gives you new perspective on the world that you cannot get otherwise. Additionally, don’t get trapped in a box professionally trying to live up to certain standards of who or how a lawyer 'should be' or 'should look like.' We are all diverse and dynamic, and your diversity is a benefit to smart organizations."

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From the BET Awards to pioneering streaming services, Brandon Tatum has built a career from his passion for music. Like any true artist, he had challenges to overcome along the way.

After joining Akin Gump for two summers and as a new associate, Brandon looked forward to a career representing individual and corporate clients in the entertainment industry in exciting, creative deals. Early on, he spent a memorable evening at the BET awards, collecting appearance consent releases from Beyonce and other artists. But when the 2008 financial crisis hit, the deals dried up, leading to a round of first-year layoffs, including Brandon.

Though his time at the firm was short, Brandon appreciates the training and support he received. "Being the first lawyer in my family, Akin Gump was my first exposure to practicing lawyers. It was a massive learning curve, and it was great that people were willing to help me climb it even though the financial crisis made it a difficult time for everyone," he says.

BigLaw jobs were scarce in the recession, and Brandon pivoted to an in-house position in a startup record label and thereafter in the health care industry, where he gained commercial and technology transactions experience working for a fast-growing multistate Fortune 300 organization. Writing and performing Midwestern-style rap (known for its fast tempo and syncopated rhythms) around town and overseas during this time kept his creativity blade sharp and his music industry know-how and network on point.

But it was a special trip to Japan that opened the door for a full-time return to the music scene. "My wife and I traveled to Tokyo on our honeymoon and fell in love with it. We had always wanted to live abroad together, so we decided to go back," he says. Upon discovering that it is virtually impossible to find a job in Japan as a lawyer (especially when applying from abroad), Brandon instead decided to build his network in Japan by earning an MBA at Japan’s largest business school that had recently begun offering a program in English. Still failing to land a job due to the language barrier, Brandon returned to Los Angeles to work at Red Bull as a commercial legal counsel.

Soon thereafter, Brandon landed a job as foreign legal counsel with one of Japan's Big 4 law firms, moved back to Tokyo and faced a new challenge—navigating through a language barrier and adapting to Japan’s unique business culture. He thrived, handling technology, data privacy and general commercial issues. He also forged a transformative relationship with K-pop pioneer SM Entertainment, selling them songs from writers around the world and eventually moving back to Los Angeles as their Director of Business & Legal Affairs where he played an integral role in bridging the East and West music industries.

Eventually, he was recruited away by SoundCloud, a music streaming and discovery service that lets artists upload their music directly to a server, providing direct access to the market.

"It has been an interesting time to sit at the convergence of music and tech," says Brandon. "In the last 15 years there has been a shift away from physical music like CDs to streaming and digital platforms, which brought about massive change in the way artists can succeed in the music industry. They went through a rough patch after mp3s and iTunes replaced CDs, but streaming has given them a streamlined way to distribute their music independently and monetize globally again."

Brandon represents a dynamic SoundCloud business area that gives artists record label services like marketing and distribution plus much-needed upfront capital. He is delighted to be closely involved with signing artists and releasing music. "I love music as an art form. There is always music in my household, every genre from Tupac, to Bjork, to Smashing Pumpkins,” he says.

He is also a vocal advocate for Black representation in the music and technology industries, especially in the executive suites. "The tech industry in America understands that they are failing at hiring and retaining Black talent. And the music industry is good at exploiting black artists but not good at hiring Black executives. It's incumbent on people like me to continue to push them to enhance their DE&I efforts," he says.

Brandon's journey to a leading role in the global music business may have been unconventional, but he doesn't regret a thing. He believes his diverse experiences have made him stronger as a lawyer and leader. Says Brandon, "Every experience you have is valuable as long as you have the right perspective."

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