Smith, Berman Expected to Fill Posts at Capitol

Joe Smith, former chairman of Elektra/Asylum Records, and David Berman, senior vice president of business affairs at Warner Bros. Records, are expected to be named chairman and president, respectively, of the records unit of Capitol Industries-EMI Inc., industry sources said Thursday.

Neither Smith nor Berman was available for comment on Thursday. A spokesman for Capitol-EMI said the company could “neither confirm nor deny” the hirings but added that “we will be issuing a statement on this shortly.”

Bhaskar Menon is expected to remain as chairman and chief executive of Capitol Industries-EMI and EMI Music Worldwide. The company is the fifth-largest record distributor in the United States, with such artists as Tina Turner, Bob Seger and Paul McCartney.

Smith, 57, shocked the industry when he resigned from Elektra in 1983 and announced that he was quitting the music business after a 30-year career. Known for his wit, he has been one of the industry’s most effective spokesmen over the years. Though he has not held an executive position in the record business since leaving Elektra, he recently was named the first full-time president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which presents the annual Grammy Awards.