Sony Music has appointed Stephanie Yu as its new General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs.
She reports to Rob Stringer, Chairman, Sony Music Group and Kevin Kelleher, COO, Sony Music.
Yu will be responsible for overseeing the business, legal, and governmental affairs strategies and activities for the company globally.
Commenting on the appointment, Stringer said: “Stephanie has the expertise, guile and poise in all the appropriate complex areas to take on this incredibly important position in our organization.”
Added Stringer: “She has earned the right to be the head legal player at Sony Music through her journey here and nothing makes me happier than promoting an internal executive to this prominent level.”
Yu said: “I want to thank Rob and Kevin for this opportunity. Over the past 21 years, Sony Music has supported me to pursue new roles and take on new challenges.
Added Yu: “I look forward to bringing that same encouraging spirit to this role, working across the company to champion our artists and our teams during this particularly dynamic moment in our industry.”
Yu succeeds Julie Swidler, who left the company at the end of June after 18 years as EVP, Business Affairs and General Counsel.
Prior to this appointment, Yu served as Executive Vice President and US Lead of Business and Legal Affairs for more than two years, where she oversaw the law division’s operations and strategy for all US frontline Sony Music record labels.
According to Sony, she has worked to introduce updated legal agreement structures that “reflect evolving business priorities, establishing cross-functional risk mitigation practices, and helping to develop the company’s approach to clearing emerging technologies such as generative AI”.
She has also collaborated closely with Litigation and other internal teams to “enhance strategic planning and align company-wide legal operations,” according to the announcement.
Her efforts have also included “working to advance transparency and education for artists through the company’s Artists Forward initiative,” Sony said.
Before that appointment, Yu joined Epic Records in 2011 where she rose to the position of Executive Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs which she held for nine years. In that role, she was part of the record label’s senior leadership team also overseeing A&R Administration, Brand Partnerships and Sync Licensing.
She also worked closely with the Sony Group family of companies, negotiating agreements for artists with Sony Music Publishing, Sony Electronics, Sony Mobile and Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Yu joined Sony Music in 2005, as a litigator, from the firm of Covington & Burling where she spent three years. From 2005 to 2011, Yu worked across Sony Music’s legal division handling a range of business affairs matters including international licensing agreements, global distribution deals as well as various M&A and innovative digital business negotiations.
Yu has been included in Billboard’s Women In Music power list for many years and she sits on the Executive Committee of the Entertainment Law Initiative. She has served on the board of Womankind, which provides services to domestic violence and human trafficking victims.Music Business Worldwide
