SVP of Business Development & Partnerships

In 1999, Napster changed the music industry forever when it launched the world’s first peer-to-peer music sharing service bringing music online for the first time. For 85 million users, Napster was not only their first experience of digital music but also their first social media experience as they were able to chat with millions of other music fans around the world.  

Napster is now the leading independent music streaming service having delivered more than $1BN to artists over the last 20 years.  The service offers music fans all the features and functionality that they need;  access to 170M tracks from their favorite artists, music videos, top editorial playlists and new AI playlist tools and metaverse experiences. 

Napster is once again getting ready to revolutionize the music industry by capturing the massive opportunity presented by superfans who want to connect directly with their favorite artists and curators.  This will unlock unprecedented new creative and commercial opportunities for the entire music industry and creator economy. Backed by some of the top VC’s and Web3 investors, with an industry leading and visionary management team, Napster is perfectly positioned to regain its place as the #1 music platform and pop culture brand.   

Napster is seeking an experienced, creative and passionate business development executive to lead Napster’s strategy, partnerships and B2B business functions  The ideal candidate will have had experience growing and managing $50M+ P&L’s, as well as conceptualizing and executing on diverse new revenue streams for global consumer subscription and advertising companies.

Requirements

• Manage and grow our B2B partnerships, evaluating new verticals to enter and preparing GTM pitch materials to be able to engage and close new business.

• Work to identify, vet, and negotiate new partnerships that help drive our D2C subscriber and revenue growth for Napster 

• Conduct financial analysis of all current deals and prospective deals to ensure they are optimized for profitability.

• Identify, evaluate and launch new business areas that contribute revenue or subscriber growth.

• Hire, mentor and scale industry leading business development and partnerships teams.

• Work closely with cross-functional teams throughout the lifecycle of key partnerships to ensure the initial and continued success of all deals.

• Effectively communicate status of deals cogently to management, internal teams and the board.

• Conduct  financial analysis and business model planning that helps define the strategy and GTM of our D2C and B2B businesses

• Explore and secure licensing opportunities and partnerships that support our Web3 products and services

• Manage our relationships with the Napster Foundation to support the rollout of their Web3 initiatives

• Manage current and establish new distribution partnerships for the Napster service (app stores, carriers, CE manufacturers, brands, gaming companies, etc.)

• Explore creative ways to license the Napster brand in conventional and non conventional channels both physical and digital.

• Negotiate and manage all contracts with current and potential partners. 

Skills and Experience

• Exceptional business development skills and experience sourcing and closing multi million dollar global deals.

• Strong industry expertise and network within Web3, media, technology and consumer products and services.

• Ability to cultivate and build strong relationships with new and existing partners and industry counterparts.

• Solid cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to build consensus among teams (executive leadership, product, engineering, marketing, finance).

• Excellent strategic presentation, communication, and interpersonal skills.

• Ability to identify strategic concerns quickly and drive internal stakeholders to a consensus

• Strong financial and analytical skills to help evaluate and optimize deals and partnerships tying them to company OKR’s.

• Excellent contract negotiation skills, ability to manage deals independently.

• Creative mindset with the ability to help partners expand their own business models leveraging music and web3

Professional Qualifications:

• MBA or JD required.

• 12+ years of business development and contract negotiation experience.

• 5+ years of experience working at a major consumer subscription service or product 

• Industry experience in both streaming and mobile platform environments is strongly preferred.

• Willingness to travel (:50% annually).

• Strategy and business model development background 

• Banking, management consulting background experience preferred.

• Multilingual candidates preferred to be able to manage our global clients and partners.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary and stock options

• Unlimited PTO

• Healthcare, dental and vision plans for individuals and families