Former UnitedMasters Legal Chief Sasha Safavi Launches New Law Firm Called Syndicate

Sasha Safavi, who has spent the past five years as head of legal and music licensing at distribution and label services company UnitedMasters, has left to start his own law firm called Syndicate.

As part of the move, Safavi launches with UnitedMasters as one of his first clients, alongside Audiomack, Rebellion Records and sports media company Overtime.

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Safavi has spent much of the past decade in the distribution world, having worked at TuneCore prior to his stint at UnitedMasters working on direct licensing deals with DSPs and other commercial deals. At UnitedMasters, he also oversaw artist deals and brand partnerships with the likes of the NFL, NBA, TikTok and the 2022 World Cup, and worked on brand campaigns for AT&T, Meta and McDonald’s, among others. UM — founded by Steve Stoute — is connected with Stoute’s brand agency Translation; across the two companies, Safavi oversaw some $250 million in transactions over the past five years.

“Our clients become family. We make memories together, and we are right there for the moments that change the trajectory of their lives,” Safavi said in a statement to Billboard. “We move with grace and integrity on their behalf, while pushing them towards greatness internally. In a rapidly evolving entertainment industry, we’re building a law firm for the next generation of global leaders.”

Safavi, who was named as one of Billboard’s Indie Power Players earlier this year, is setting up Syndicate across three divisions — creators, athletics and corporations — with the idea of the company being more a business partner than law firm, including by building out an in-house AI tool it is calling Aaliyah and hiring data analysts and engineers to help its clients navigate the legal landscape.