September News

Robert Carlton / SMACKSongs

Robert Carlton - Senior Vice President, Development, SMACKSongs

Robert Carlton serves as the Senior Vice President, Development at SMACKSongs where he has worked for the last 8 years developing the publishing house into the nationally acclaimed staple it is on Music Row today.

Born and raised in Hendersonville, TN, Carlton graduated from Middle Tennessee State University where he studied Music Business. After graduation, he moved to Nashville where he started a career in publishing that would introduce the world to some of country music’s most renowned songwriters and artists. 

Initially at Black River Entertainment, Carlton signed GRAMMY Award Nominated artist Kelsea Ballerini to her first ever publishing deal. Throughout his career, he has gone on to work with such acclaimed acts as Old Dominion, Sam Hunt, and Jake Owen, among many others. 

At SMACK, Carlton oversees the publishing leg of the company, which includes managing multi-GRAMMY Award-winning songwriters, and SMACK partners, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, as well as guiding their more than 20 writers to success. Under his watch, SMACK has spent 8 years in the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Publishing Corporations year-end chart, and in 2021 alone has landed 19 songs on the country radio charts. 

Additionally, Carlton oversees the artist management leg of SMACK, which includes powerhouse singer/songwriter Walker Hayes, currently sitting at the top of nearly every country sales and streaming chart with his smash hit “Fancy Like,” as well as Kylie Morgan, a Vevo discover artist who was named to CMA’s KixStart Program and CMT’s Next Women of Country.