Innovating Music Rights: Intellectual Property, Metadata and the Future of the Music Industry

About the project

About the Project This fully funded PhD studentship, supported by the AHRC MusicFutures Creative Cluster at the University of Liverpool, invites innovative research on music rights data, intellectual property and the digital music ecosystem. The successful candidate will develop an original project while helping translate research into practical metadata capability for music businesses. The studentship involves working with the MusicFutures research team and 27 industry partners to examine the legal and policy challenges surrounding music rights data in the digital music ecosystem. The project explores how intellectual property frameworks accommodate — or obstruct — innovation in the creation, management and exchange of music metadata, and how rights information can be more accurately attributed, tracked and remunerated under UK law, with a focus on ownership and transparency in rights data. The research would be conducted under the joint supervision of Dr Sabine Jacques, at MusicFutures, School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool and Dr Georgia Jenkins, School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool. The successful candidate will undertake their PhD at the University of Liverpool and contribute to the MusicFutures Clinic and Lab. The PhD will commence in January 2027 and will be undertaken on a full-time basis (3 years). Description: MusicFutures is an AHRC-funded programme hosted by the University of Liverpool. It brings together academics, music-sector organisations and creative industry partners to support inclusive, sustainable and R&D-led innovation and business development in the Liverpool City Region. Operating from a hub at the Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool (LEX campus), it empowers SMEs and entrepreneurs to innovate, attract investment, scale up and adopt inclusive and sustainable practices. Music rights data is an important practical, legal and policy issue within the digital music ecosystem. The UK Intellectual Property Office’s Music Streaming Metadata Mapping Report (2026) identifies ongoing difficulties in the creation, exchange and use of music metadata across the supply chain, including incomplete or inconsistent information to connect recordings, musical woks and contributors. These problems can affect attribution, licensing, discoverability and remuneration with particular consequences for independent creators and SMEs. This studentship invites applicants to propose an original PhD project that examines the relationship between intellectual property law, rights information and innovation in the music sector. Applicants are encouraged to define a focused research question and methodological approach that aligns with the broad themes of music rights data, ownership, attribution, transparency, governance, remuneration, creative labour and technological change. Possible areas of inquiry might include: The legal character, control and governance of music rights data and identifiers. The role and limitations of copyright, performers’ rights, moral rights, contract and data governance in supporting accurate attribution and payment. The legal and policy implications of voluntary metadata standards, industry coordination and technical infrastructure. Rights data challenges arising from collaborative, platform-based or AI-assisted music creation. Comparative approaches to music metadata, collective rights management and digital rights infrastructure. The distributional effects of deficient rights information for independent, under-represented or less-resourced creators. The relationship between rights-data literacy, business capability and participation in the digital music economy. The project may adopt doctrinal, socio-legal, comparative, empirical or interdisciplinary methods. Depending on the candidate’s research design, it may involve engagement with creators, right-holders, collective management organisations, distributors, labels, platforms, policymakers or other relevant stakeholders. The successful candidate will be supported to develop an independent programme of research that makes an original contribution to legal scholarship and offers practical insights for the music sector. Alongside their doctoral research, the candidate will work with the MusicFutures team and partners to design, pilot and evaluate a certificated metadata competency scheme for music businesses with the Intellectual Property Office. This will be modelled on safety and cyber-security passports already familiar with employers, as recommended in the IPO’s report. The candidate will draw on their research to contribute to sector-facing materials and knowledge-exchange activities. In year one, the candidate will undertake doctoral training through the School of Law and Social Justice (e.g. legal, empirical and qualitative methods, ethics and data management). They will refine their research question, complete a literature review, develop their methodology and secure relevant ethical approval, while becoming embedded in the MusicFutures Clinic and Lab. Year two centres on the candidate’s independent research, where relevant, fieldwork, analysis and collaboration on the competency scheme. Year three will focus on thesis completion, evaluation of the competency scheme alongside academic, policy and sector-facing outputs. The PhD will be jointly supervised by Dr Sabine Jacques and Dr Georgia Jenkins. Eligibility: You’ll typically need to hold both of the following: A UK undergraduate degree (BA or LLB) at 2:1 or above, or overseas equivalent, in a relevant subject A UK master’s degree, or overseas equivalent, preferably in Law (LLM). You'll need to demonstrate competence in the use of English language, unless you’re from a majority English speaking country. Open to international applicants but will be funded at the Home Fee level. Applications: Email application documents to slsjpgr@liverpool.ac.uk by the deadline date and time. Prepare your application documents You may need the following documents to complete your online application: A research proposal (this should cover the research you’d like to undertake) University transcripts and degree certificates to date Passport details English language certificates (international applicants only) A personal statement A curriculum vitae (CV) Names and contact details of two referees. Confirmation that you would be willing and available to receive training and supervision at the University of Liverpool according to the needs of the project. A 2000-word paper (including a 300-word abstract) considering what legal obligations, if any, apply to businesses handling music rights metadata, and whether voluntary certification could meaningfully improve compliance. Please apply by sending the required documents to slsjpgr@liverpool.ac.uk in an email titled ‘Music Futures Studentship Application’. Please do NOT apply via the online portal until you are shortlisted and instructed to do so . Application deadline: 15 th October for submission of application (5pm). Interviews to take place week commencing 02 nd November 2026. Start date: January 2027

Research areas