James Timothy DuBois (born May 4, 1948 is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Nashville-based songwriter and recording industry executive who has headed both Arista Records (Nashville Division) and Universal South Records. As a songwriter he wrote five No. 1 country hits. His most successful song was the world-wide hit "Love in the First Degree" recorded by the group Alabama.
DuBois' started playing guitar in bands as a youth. He received three academic scholarships to Oklahoma State University to study accounting; he earned two advanced degrees and became a senior financial analyst for the Texas Federal Reserve Bank, as well as worked for Arthur Anderson. While pursuing his PhD., DuBois became interested in country music and began writing songs, eventually leading him to move to Nashville to pursue music. Writing successful songs led to his becoming a record producer, creating over 20 No. 1 and top five singles and more than a dozen gold, platinum, and double-platinum country albums. In 1984, he created the musical group Restless Heart. He was tapped by Clive Davis to create a Nashville office of Arista Records in 1989. He discovered and signed country artists Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Blackhawk, Pam Tillis and Diamond Rio, all within an 18 month period.
DuBois was recognized as the "most powerful person in the music industry" by Business Nashville in 1996, "Record Executive of the year" in 1992 by Pollstar, and was included in Entertainment Weekly’s list of the "101 Most Powerful People in Entertainment" in 1994 and 1995. He is a member of the Oklahoma State University's Hall of Fame (1996) and was the school's Accounting Alumnus of the year (1992).