Troy Tomlinson

In October 2017, Tomlinson was presented with the Nashville Inspiration Award for his lifetime commitment to serving others.

In April 2016, he was honored with Belmont University's 2016 Robert E. Mulloy Award of Excellence for his outstanding three decade career on Nashville's Music Row.

In October 2014, Tomlinson was presented with the Keystone Award by the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation for his extraordinary efforts in bringing together Nashville's Business and Creative communities to create the first permanent home for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In 2005, Tomlinson was appointed President/CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville. While continuing to work with the aforementioned artists, he has also overseen the songwriting careers of artists such as Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Darius Rucker, Kelsea Ballerini, Blake Shelton, Thomas Rhett, Gary LeVox (Rascal Flatts), Brett Eldredge, Jon Pardi, The Band Perry, Mitchell Tenpenny, Jimmie Allen, Cole Swindell, Randy Houser, Charlie Worsham, High Valley, and Chase Rice. In addition to Sony/ATV Music Publishing's writer/artists, Tomlinson also guides the careers of hit songwriters Tom Douglas, Josh Osborne, Chris DeStefano, Ross Copperman, Jon Nite, Jaren Johnston, Lindsay Rimes, Jim Beavers, Luke Laird, Bill Anderson, and Bobby Braddock to name a few. He was responsible for stewarding the song catalogs of Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Alan Jackson, Guy Clark, John Bettis, Buck Owens, Hank Cochran, Roy Acuff and the Everly Brothers. Under Tomlinson's leadership in 2007, Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville became the only country music publishing company in history to win the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’ (ASCAP) Country Publisher of the Year, Broadcast Music International's (BMI) Country Publisher of the Year, the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers’ (SESAC) Country Publisher of the Year, and Billboard's Publisher and Publishing Corporation of the Year, the same year. Additionally, Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville was named BMI's Publisher of the Year for an unprecedented 16 consecutive years, as well as Billboard's Country Publisher of the Year for the same time period.

In the summer of 2002, Gaylord Entertainment sold Acuff-Rose to Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which had previously purchased Tree International, Acuff-Rose's perennial rival. Tomlinson was asked by then President/CEO, Donna Hilley, to join the company as Vice President of Creative.

In 1988 Tomlinson caught the attention of Jerry Bradley, who had become president of Gaylord Entertainment's 16th Avenue Records and Acuff-Rose Music Publishing. Bradley brought Tomlinson to Acuff-Rose, where he worked with famed songwriters Dean Dillon, Skip Ewing, Jim Weatherly, and Whitey Shafer, among others. Tomlinson is also credited with the discovery of Kenny Chesney, the Country Music Association's four time Entertainer of the Year. During Tomlinson's 14 years at Acuff-Rose Music Publishing, he rose through the ranks to the position of Executive Vice President of Acuff-Rose Music Publishing.

After high school, Tomlinson pursued what he thought was his lifelong vocation as a machinist. His first job following graduation was an apprenticeship position at a plastics company in Portland. While working there, he received second and third degree burns on both hands. At the time, a new acquaintance of his, Cliff Williamson, was searching for a trainee song-plugger at a newly formed publishing company, Multimedia Entertainment in Nashville. In 1983 Williamson hired Tomlinson.

Tomlinson was born and raised in Portland, TN, the son of Ella and Vernon Tomlinson. He graduated from Portland High School in 1982. Tomlinson is married, with two children and two grandchildren.

Troy Tomlinson (born January 18, 1964) is an American businessman and the Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group Nashville. Upon assuming the role on July 1, 2019, Tomlinson became the first Chairman and CEO to run a major music publishing company in Nashville.