Bruce started at His Masters Voice NZ, Lower Hutt in 1967 as A&R manager for single. He worked for HMV/EMI NZ for over 40 years. After the 'Day the music died' in New Zealand when EMI closed down the local record presses in September 1987, Bruce didn't want to move to Auckland with the rest of the company, but stayed on as a consultant and compilation specialist for both EMI NZ and EMI Australia.