Verve Music Group has appointed industry marketing veteran Robert Smith to the position of General Manager.  The announcement was made today by Grammy Award winning producer and Chairman of Verve, David Foster, to whom he reports. Smith will be based in Santa Monica. 

Smith will oversee label activities including marketing, digital, social media and promotional initiatives as Verve continues to expand and develop new artists whose appeal reaches an adult-oriented audience. Upcoming releases for the label group, which includes non-classical artists from sister label Decca Records, are a David Foster-produced holiday album from Rod Stewart, a fall release from Diana Krall produced by T Bone Burnett, as well as new albums from Rufus Wainwright, Melody Gardot, Keith Harkin (from Celtic Thunder) and Elton John. 

"As we continue to expand Verve into the adult contemporary and pop music markets, Robert is the perfect choice to oversee our day-to-day operations," stated Foster. "He possesses a real track record of success and his marketing talents are among the most innovative and forward thinking in the industry." 

"I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with David Foster, one of the industry’s most talented and creative producers, in expanding the Verve label," commented Smith. "I’d like to thank Concord and the amazing, legendary artists I had the chance to work with there. We were fortunate to be able to implement creative marketing initiatives to further feature our artists in non-traditional areas of media and retail, ideas which I hope to expand upon at Verve."

Prior to joining Verve, Smith served as SVP of A&R for Concord Music Group. While at Concord, he worked closely with Paul Simon, James Taylor, Carole King, The Cars and others. Before Concord, Smith was a principal at Nomadic Music, licensing mobile content. In the past he held various marketing positions, including at UMG’s Geffen Records.