Troy Tomlinson Talks Advocacy & Relationships Ahead Of CMA Songwriter Advocate Award Honor [Interview]

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Troy Tomlinson. Photo: Kat Bradshaw

At the 14th annual CMA Triple Play Awards tonight (April 15), Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) Nashville Chairman & CEO Troy Tomlinson will receive the CMA Songwriter Advocate Award. The honor will be presented in addition to the Triple Play Awards, which recognizes songwriters who have notched three No. 1 hits in a year. This year’s group includes Ashley Gorley, Charlie Handsome, Jelly Roll, Chase McGill, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt and Thomas Rhett.

Tomlinson will join only two others who have received the CMA Songwriter Advocate Award: Bob DiPiero in 2020 and Jody Williams in 2022. The award is meant to honor individuals who have dedicated their life to supporting and advancing the art of songwriting and careers of songwriters—those who have positively impacted and contributed to the growth of songwriting in country music and have had an unprecedented historical impact on the songwriting community.

“I was simultaneously honored and overwhelmed when I heard I was getting this award,” Tomlinson tells MusicRow. “I’ve been friends with and worked with Jody Williams throughout my entire career. Bob DiPiero was one of my songwriters at Sony. To follow behind those two guys in this honor is really special.”

In his 40 years on Music Row, Tomlinson has nurtured, protected and passionately promoted songwriters such as Kelsea Ballerini, Casey Beathard, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Dean Dillon, Tom Douglas, Miranda Lambert, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift, Thomas Rhett, Hank Williams and many others. He was named to his position at UMPG 2019 after serving as President & CEO of Sony Music Publishing Nashville since 2002. Prior to that, Tomlinson was EVP of Acuff Rose Music Publishing from 1988 until 2002.

For Tomlinson, a true songwriter advocate is someone who wakes up and goes to sleep with songwriters on their mind. He points out that, for decades, songwriters have been at the tail end of the food chain as far as compensation, and that advocacy to him means challenging that as well as protecting the craft and profession of songwriting.

“First and foremost, a songwriter advocate is a person who has the songwriter’s interest top of mind every day in every situation,” he says. “That’s the micro part. In a macro sense, an advocate for songwriters is one who fights for them where they’re not being compensated fairly. For at least 50 years, we’ve said, ‘It all begins with a song.’ I say, it actually all begins with a songwriter. You have to believe that deep in your soul to actually act upon that in advocating for the writers.”

When assessing his journey and the reputation he has built in order to receive an award like this, Tomlinson observes that he puts a lot of effort into his relationships with songwriters—a tenant he learned from the late Music Row legend Donna Hilley.

“I had only been working for her for a few weeks when she came to my office, sat down and said, ‘Troy, you’re going to run this company one day.’ I thought she was just being nice,” he recalls. “She said, ‘There’s two things I want you to remember. One, you’re going to have to go to a lot of funerals. Two, you’re going to have to go to a lot of weddings. It’s imperative that you do so people know you care.”

When asked what advice he would give to other publishers, he reiterates Hilley’s lesson and adds, “Don’t just call your songwriters from 9 to 5. Surprise them in the evening or early in the morning. Show them that they are on your mind.

“That is a sacrifice for other portions of your life. My boss, Jody Gerson, calls it ‘Lifestyle A&R.’ Practice that.”

As far as the legacy he hopes to leave on Music Row, Tomlinson says it’s about the songs and the songwriters he’s gotten to work with.

“I hope to be thought of as a true song guy, because that’s at the base of everything that I’ve done. It’s what continues to drive me today,” he says. “To know that the men and women who wrote those songs know my heart for them… That’s the legacy that I want to leave.”

Tonight, when he is presented with the CMA Songwriter Advocate Award, Tomlinson hopes that the songwriters and industry members he has worked with share in the honor.

“Any accomplishment I’ve had or honor that I’ve been given is a direct result of the songwriters and A&R people who worked with me to support those songwriters,” he says. “The honors I’ve been blessed with all go back to the songwriters and the A&R people in our town.

“To quote Tom Douglas, ‘There are only two types of people that need to be in the music business—dreamers and believers.’ I have never been a dreamer, but I’m damn well sure a believer in songwriters.”

LB Cantrell
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