Fletcher Foster
Senior Vice-President Marketing
Capitol Records/Nashville

You'd expect a Nashville label executive's resume to include the likes of Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Keith Urban and Trace Adkins.  You might not expect to see names like Whitney Houston, Annie Lennox, Toni Braxton, Patti LaBelle, TLC and Live.

The fact that Fletcher Foster has worked with all of them is a key part of why he was tapped by Capitol President & CEO Mike Dungan for the position of Senior Vice-President, Marketing.  Foster's stints at labels in Los Angeles and Nashville have given him one of the most varied and eclectic backgrounds on Music Row.

"With technology developing so quickly, and media becoming such a powerful tool in our world, it's vital that we use every outlet at our disposal to heighten public awareness of our artists, broaden their bases and take them to new career levels," Foster says.

Since joining Capitol/Nashville, Foster has implemented a multi-pronged approach to marketing the label’s music and artists. Arriving during a key point in Keith Urban’s career, he increased the singer's profile by facilitating major TV appearances and arranging an intensive industry awareness campaign. Urban later won the CMA Horizon Award and the ACM New Top Male Vocalist Award.  Foster's marketing efforts have also been important in the renewed standing of Trace Adkins as a major artist, to the continued momentum of Chris Cagle's career after he arrived at Capitol from the shuttered Virgin Records, and in the launching of Dierks Bentley.

Foster came to Capitol/Nashville from Arista/Nashville, where he got several artists their first national major network exposure (Pam Tillis on "The Tonight Show", Alan Jackson on the "Grammy's" and "Billboard Awards", and taking Brooks & Dunn to the "Arsenio Hall Show" early in their career).

"Arsenio was key to Arista at the time," Foster says, "because we had so many R&B/Urban artists on the roster.  But the show didn't book that much country, so it was really a coup to be able to showcase Brooks & Dunn to a brand new audience at that point in their career."

In 1999, Foster was the Executive Producer of Arista/Nashville’s first soundtrack.  The soundtrack to the Miramax film, "Happy, Texas" received rave reviews and earned two Grammy nominations.  The album featured such diverse acts as Joan Osborne, Pam Tillis, Emmy Lou Harris, Keb Mo' and Lee Roy Parnell, Kim Richey and BR5-49.

That kind of creative work stems from a lifetime of love for music. Foster  grew up listening to country and pop as well as gospel music.  At 12, he released his first record.  He later recorded a record for the Association for Retarded Citizens that was used as a fundraiser for the Association as well as the Special Olympics.  At age 16, he released an album on American Artists Records. 

Following high school, Foster went to Belmont  University in Nashville, majoring in business with a minor in music, while making a living doing jingle work.  After graduation, he worked at Sony Music.  "That was really where I learned the business end of the music business," he says.  "The foundation of what I know now, I learned there," he says.  While there, he handled a roster that included Rosanne Cash, George Jones, Willie Nelson, the late-Tammy Wynette and Johnny Cash among others.

In 1990, Foster went to work for Arista in Los Angeles as Senior Director, National Publicity.  His primary responsibility, though, involved lining up media appearances for the label's artists - Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow, TLC, Kenny G., Annie Lennox and more.  He spent nearly two years at MCA as Vice-President, Television and Multimedia Marketing, logging rock/alternative band Live their first appearance on Saturday Night Live and helping launch them toward their triple-platinum success. 

In October of 2000, Foster joined Capitol as Sr. Vice President, Marketing.  In this capacity he works with Capitol artists Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, Jennifer Hanson, Chris Cagle, Trace Adkins, and Dierks Bentley to name a few.  He oversees all areas of the marketing at the label including production, publicity, new media, international, and video production.

In 1999, Foster conceived and chaired the 1st Annual Run on the Row benefiting the T.J. Martell Organization.  The 5K run was a tremendous success and will become an annual event benefiting various non-profit organizations in the Nashville community.

Foster is on the Board of Directors of Gilda's Club the Board of Directors of T.J. Martell, and Board of Directors of Make-A-Wish.  He is also on Board of Governors for the National Association of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), Nashville Film Festival (NFF) and Leadership Music. He is a Leadership Music alumnus and a member of the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music,  NARAS, and on the Country Music Association Marketing Committee.