After Signing with Suno, Timbaland is Creating an AI-Focused Genre Called ‘A-Pop’

After signing with AI music startup Suno, Timbaland is creating an AI-focused genre, as well as his first AI-generated artist.

Timbaland is determined to make AI music his own way, announcing the launch of a new AI entertainment company, Stage Zero, which will work on an AI-focused genre he calls “A-Pop.” The company is already introducing the world to their first AI-generated artist, called TaTa.

According to Stage Zero co-founder and film producer Rocky Mudaliar, TaTa is one of the first steps in Timbaland’s “A-Pop” (artificial pop) project. Timbaland has been champing at the bit to create AI music since last year when he started using AI music creation program Suno, made by a company on which he now serves as creative director.

Timbaland says he “fell in love” with the voice that Suno generated when he uploaded unfinished demos of his songs onto the platform. “It came to a point where I’m like, ‘Yo, this voice, it’s amazing.’” That voice became the pink-haired young woman known as TaTa.

While there’s no word yet on when TaTa’s first single might be released, Stage Zero says they plan to make her seem as real as possible. She will have a social media presence, in addition to more AI-generated imagery of the virtual artist.

Despite AI remaining a touchy subject, particularly in the music industry where the technology has been challenging copyright law, Mudaliar believes the opposition will subside, eventually. “[AI is] not going anywhere,” he says, comparing what he calls the inevitability of its eventual acceptance to the way influencers were initially viewed in the cultural zeitgeist.

Human creators will be involved in the process of creating TaTa and her music, as well as that of other AI artists. But it’s difficult not to look at such an endeavor as a way to minimize human involvement. Often at the cusp of creating generation-defining music, it will be interesting to see if his latest move will prove to be a meaningful one.