Gary Smith began his career in the music industry in 1968 while still a student majoring in broadcast communications at Fresno State University. His earliest productions included The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. Smith produced concerts independently with artists like Creedence Clearwater and Deep Purple and eventually moved to San Francisco and worked with a number of Bay Area bands. In 1974 he produced some of the early Aerosmith dates and did a string of national tour dates for the Guess Who. After becoming tour manager for the Average White Band in 1975 and later an associate in the AWB management company in 1976 Smith handled every aspect of world and national tours for AWB through 1979. After several years of extensive touring he returned to his home town of Fresno and in 1982 joined the fledgling Promoters-On-Line Listings (P.O.L.L.) later to become known as POLLSTAR.

POLLSTAR Chief Operating, Gary Smith, has overseen every aspect of the growth and development of the publication from a small quick printed tip sheet to a glossy full-color magazine with more than 12,000 readers internationally. POLLSTAR has carved out a niche for itself concentrating on concert industry news, itineraries, and statistical tour data. POLLSTAR now has music business clients in more than 40 foreign countries. The publication has grown far beyond the original tip sheet with numerous syndication and consulting deals. PollarPro.com is one of the top music business web sites and Pollstar.com is one of the highest rated music information sites in the world. Pollstar also produces the annual Pollstar Live conference. This February, in Nashville, TN the event attracted the largest gathering of Concert Industry professionals in the world for an event of this type.

During his tenure at Pollstar, Gary Smith has also served on the Board of Directors for the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and is currently serving on the board for the International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA).