The Orchard Names Tucker McCrady EVP & General Counsel
Jul 12, 2016
New York, NY — July 12, 2016 — The Orchard today announced the appointment of Tucker McCrady as EVP & General Counsel, leading its Business & Legal Affairs functions. Based in New York, he will report to Brad Navin, CEO of The Orchard.
In this role McCrady will manage The Orchard’s legal and business affairs team, with global oversight of the company’s digital licensing negotiations, label distribution contracts, acquisitions and all other related legal activities.
Since 2012, McCrady was with Greenberg Traurig, LLP where he was a shareholder at the firm, which employs over 1,800 attorneys. At the firm, he worked on the legal team representing Soundcloud, a platform with more than 100 million active users globally, and played a leading role in negotiating licenses for the service with majors and independents. McCrady’s specific area of expertise in licensing digital services and the monetization of music makes him a natural lead for the world’s largest digital distribution company.
Prior to Greenberg Traurig, LLP, McCrady was at Warner Music Group for six and a half years, where he was associate counsel of digital legal affairs, later managing litigation for the company worldwide as VP. He also served for five years on the Board of Directors of SoundExchange. He grew up in Tennessee, attending Harvard University and The Juilliard School, followed by Columbia Law School. He has been the recipient of several awards and interned briefly with Ruth Ginsberg at the Supreme Court. Upon graduation, he joined Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler LLP in 2001 as a Litigation Associate, focusing on intellectual property and copyright law. Later, he joined Shearman & Sterling with a strong focus on transactional work, before entering the music business in 2006. Before law school McCrady worked as a professional actor, appearing on Broadway and in theatres around the country.
“I’ve spent the past ten years of my career helping organizations transition into digital,” McCrady said. “Because The Orchard operates at the cutting edge of that transformation, I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining the executive team. With the deep bench of excellent lawyers that the company already has in place, I’m confident we’ll be able to provide an exceptional level of legal guidance and direction, to drive the continuing growth of The Orchard’s platform and expand its commercial reach.”
Said Brad Navin, CEO of The Orchard, “Tucker is a highly skilled attorney with a strong music background and extensive experience in the legal and digital licensing issues that drive our business. We are very excited to have him leading our business and legal affairs strategy and helping us provide the best possible service to the independent community.”
ABOUT THE ORCHARD
The Orchard is a pioneering music, video and film distribution company and top-ranked Multi Channel Network operating in more than 25 global markets. With a holistic approach to sales and marketing combined with industry-leading technology and operations, The Orchard amplifies reach and revenue across hundreds of digital, physical and mobile outlets around the world. The Orchard streamlines content owners’ business complexity with an intuitive client dashboard, comprehensive rights management and tailored client support. Founded in 1997, The Orchard empowers businesses and creators in the entertainment industry.