Name:  Tanitoluwa ‘Tani’ Oludipe

Position: Legal, Business Development and Partnerships Manager

Company: Immensum Music

Sector/Industry: (telecoms, financial, govt, energy etc)- Entertainment/ Creative Industry 

Worked in current position for (number of years/months): 1 year

Total years as an in-house lawyer:  3 years

A day in the life: Provide a brief overview of your current role (what you do, how you spend your time etc): 

My role as Legal, Business Development and Partnerships Manager generally requires that I handle all legal matters within the company, including external and internal compliance, as well as business tasks such as evaluating the company’s progress, developing strategies for business growth and presenting beneficial partnership opportunities to the leadership of the company. 

Most of my role is currently handled remotely due to my company’s current working arrangement so my day usually begins by me simply listing out any specific tasks I plan to get done for the day, and having a look at the goals I would like to achieve in the short, mid and long term. I also find it important to remind myself regularly of the things that I need to do to continue to be valuable to the company and contribute to the bottom line. After doing this, I look through all open email threads and respond wherever necessary. This is followed by any contract reviews, contract drafting and attending to other specific tasks. The rest of my day is usually filled with research and phone calls and ends with meetings because of the time difference as a large part of our team is based in the US. 

Due to the nature and requirements of my role, I tend not to have specific opening/closing times which means I have to be very flexible and willing to attend to issues at seemingly odd hours, and then be creative as to when I get to rest/ attend to personal matters. 

The best thing about my current job is:

 I get to work on a wide variety of projects of differing levels of magnitude, with some of the biggest companies and personalities, and I get to learn about how things are done across different countries. 

The most challenging thing about my current job is: 

Sometimes, the poor state of structure within the entertainment industry, especially within Africa, can be difficult to navigate as a lawyer/ professional. Also, there tends to be a lack of sufficient education about certain industry terms that can mean that you spend a lot of time explaining the same thing over and over, which can be burdensome. 

Most pivotal career decision: 

Choosing to try out Intellectual Property Law in my final year of university due to my love for music and creative things sold me on Intellectual Property as well as the Entertainment Industry and that’s probably the biggest reason I have found myself in my current career path. 

One of the biggest challenges I’ve had to face in your in-house career journey is:

Spending two and a half (2 1/2) years negotiating and closing a deal that was very important to the company and its management as there were also emotional factors involved.

What advice would I give my younger self?

I would advise my younger self to learn out to sell and get some business experience earlier on, no matter how little, as business knowledge and skill will help you in every facet of society, including any job you find yourself in this world of capitalism. 

Key influencers that have shaped my journey:

My parents, God, my university lecturers and all my entertainment industry bosses, informal mentors and friends who have given me an opportunity to be of value so far. 

One cool thing I’ve observed in the legal industry recently?

The growth of AI in the creative space is very interesting to me as I am quite concerned with the legal issues that will and have already arisen, especially with regards to works being created by AI platforms (music, music videos, photographs etc.). Law suits have already begun in different countries in the world and I am quite sure these will increase, until lawmakers are able to create clear laws (if possible) regarding ownership of these works, rights to create AI works through machine learning and all the other important factors.  

Favourite pro bono/ volunteer or charitable activity:

 Consulting for musical artists who cannot yet afford a lawyer. 

If I were not practising law, I would probably be: 

Definitely a songwriter & musical artiste/performer. To be honest, we’re really not out of the woods yet. 

What (singular) achievement are you most proud of? 

This might sound ridiculous, but I am still quite proud that I learned how to skateboard. Also, closing the 2-year long deal I mentioned earlier was a very proud moment for me. 

Something you love doing that but you’re not that great at?
Playing the Piano

Something you dislike doing that you’re pretty good at?

Photo Editing

In 5 years-time I’d love to be:

A C-Suite executive running the effective and efficient operations in a multinational organisation.