Timbaland just took a bold leap into the future of music.
His new company, Stage Zero, is set to introduce the world to its first artist with a twist: TaTa, a pop performer powered entirely by artificial intelligence. Suno AI provided the backbone for TaTa’s creation, but Timbaland, along with co-founders Rocky Mudaliar and Zayd Portillo, envisions something much bigger than just another digital experiment.
Unlike anything we’ve seen before, TaTa is designed to be “living” and able to learn, evolving beyond what you might expect from a simple digital avatar. According to Timbaland, she is the first in a wave of autonomous AI music artists, and he sees her as the beginning of a fresh genre he calls A-Pop.
Timbaland is not just producing music anymore; he is crafting entire acts from the ground up, blending technology and creativity in new ways. He believes that what once took months in studio time now comes together in mere days thanks to this tech shift, dramatically accelerating the creative process.
He describes the experience as both exhilarating and overwhelming, comparing it to a kid in a toy store. That feeling of limitless new potential seems to drive his passion for pushing boundaries, and he insists that AI is much more a partner than a rival for musicians.
The Rise of AI Collaboration in Music
Stage Zero’s vision isn’t about replacing human artistry, according to Mudaliar. Instead, it’s about blending the lines between humans and artificial performers, imagining a future with autonomous digital stars sharing the spotlight with people.
Other music world notables are catching the AI wave too. ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus has spoken out about using AI to help write musicals, describing it as an inspiring brainstorming buddy but not a replacement for real human emotion.
Ulvaeus says that AI is still far from crafting a hit song on its own, especially when it comes to lyrics, but it can easily break creative blocks and spark new directions. He likens it to having another songwriter in the room, one who never tires or runs out of ideas.
Not everyone in the industry is cheering for this technological transformation, though. Hundreds of legendary musicians have recently raised concerns about how AI advances may clash with copyright protections, calling for clearer rules to shield original creators and their work.
As Timbaland drives forward with Stage Zero’s AI ambitions, pop culture continues to buzz with other music headlines. He is rumored to be working on new projects with huge stars—proof that even as the tools change, the spirit of collaboration remains at the heart of the industry.
