SCOTLAND (CelebrityAccess) – The Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) has appointed Ronnie Gurr as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately.
Gurr will lead SMIA’s executive team and work with the company’s board to support Scotland’s music industry following the COVID-19 pandemic while championing and developing the artists, music, and diverse network of industry professionals working across Scotland, per MusicWeek.
Gurr is a former music consultant who has worked in the music business since the 1970s. He joined Virgin Records as a press officer in 1982, where he orchestrated the launch of Boy George and Culture Club. He also worked in press and as an A&R manager with Simple Minds, Danny Wilson, The Blue Nile, The Big Dish, Endgames, and XTC.
He was appointed A&R director of Sony Music’s Columbia label, where he worked with artists ranging from Michael Ball to Cypress Hill. Sir Richard Branson re-recruited him to oversee the formation of his V2 record label, best known for the success of one of Gurr’s signings, Stereophonics.
Gurr has sat on the Scottish Arts Council’s Performing Arts Committee, The British Council’s Creative Industries Advisory Committee, and the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Contemporary Music, and was a member of Creative Scotland’s Music Reference Group. He has also organized and coordinated the presence and showcase concerts of Scottish artists at SXSW and more recently at Canada’s East Coast Music Week over several years on behalf of Showcase Scotland Expo.
Gurr established the Hanging Around Books publishing imprint in 2017 to work with photographers and their archives in releasing rare and previously unseen images through an ongoing series of music-related photo-zine titles.
Sharon Mair, vice chair of the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), said: “We are delighted to welcome Ronnie Gurr as chief executive officer of the SMIA. Ronnie brings a wealth of experience along with a strong passion for Scotland’s music sector. We look forward to him working with our members and partners on strengthening, empowering, and uniting our industry, to drive recovery and growth in a post-covid landscape.”
With a membership of over 3,500 industry professionals, the SMIA gives voice to Scotland’s music sector when speaking to the government, as well as both produces and supports projects and programs that stimulate sustainability, domestic and international growth, development, and innovation.
The SMIA’s services, projects, and events are designed to strengthen and increase the value of Scotland’s music industry both at home and on the world stage, economically, socially, and culturally.
