He then moved to EMI Publishing in 1992, where he went on to sign acts such as PJ Harvey, Elastica, Supergrass, Teenage Fan Club, Doves, Starsailor, the Beta Band, the Avalanches, Gorillaz, the White Stripes, the Libertines, the Scissor Sisters, Arcade Fire and Arctic Monkeys, as well as resigning Blur and progressing to the position of Head of A&R.

Acts he also looked after included Kings of Leon, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Foo Fighters, Matt Cardle, Ke$ha, Sleigh Bells, and Kasabian.

As well as reuniting with Damon Albarn, since joining the company he has overseen the signings of Liam Gallagher,[4] J Hus, Dave, Andy Partridge, Joe Strummer, the Manic Street Preachers and Celeste.

[5] In September 2020, Smith joined Downtown Music Publishing as Global President where he is responsible for a catalogue that includes John Lennon, Miles Davis, Oneohtrix Point Never, Arca, George Gershwin, Wu-Tang Clan and the 1975.

Smith has been sketching the musicians he has spent his lifetime watching and in 2009, staged an exhibition of prints made from these drawings at Richard Goodall Gallery in Manchester.