Timbaland, pictured with the Universal Music Nashville team, has announced a country-focused talent-discovery deal. Photo Credit: UMG
Universal Music Group Nashville and Timbaland’s Mosley Music are working to discover and break country talent under a new partnership.
UMG Nashville just recently unveiled the Mosley Music agreement – albeit without diving too far into the pact’s specifics. Instead, the brass-tacks announcement indicates that the companies are officially joining forces by “actively exploring rising talent and new discoveries in the music space.”
However, the collaboration behind the union has been in place for some time now. According to UMG Nashville CEO Cindy Mabe, her company and Timbaland started working together about one year back with an aim of “bridging the gaps in sound and culture in country music.”
(Mosley, which has per its website sold north of 25 million albums released by the likes of OneRepublic, Nelly Furtado, and others, already had JV deals in place with UMG’s Interscope and Def Jam.)
“Timbaland is one of the most iconic producers, songwriters, and artists in the last 30 years, merging genres and opening the doors to magnify cultural impact across genres,” elaborated Mabe, who’s been at the helm of UMG Nashville for over 10 years.
“Hailing from Norfolk, VA,” concluded Mabe, “Timbaland’s reach and impact have been felt across pop, hip-hop, and country music including working with and bridging sounds for artists like Bubba Sparxxx, For King + Country, and Brad Paisley. Timbaland continues to push open the doors making innovative cultural impact by pushing boundaries and I am excited to join forces in breaking barriers in country music.”
Addressing the decision to zero in on country and unite with UMG Nashville, the Verzuz co-founder and 12on12 stakeholder Timbaland praised the Universal Music-owned label group’s “mission of taking chances on special artists to meet culture.”
“Cindy, Chelsea [Blythe], Charlene [Bryant], Rob [Femia], Lori [Genes Christian], Mike [Harris], and the rest of the team at UMG Nashville understand our vision and I know will be a great partner for us to continue to break artists,” finished the Songwriters Hall of Famer.
Shifting the focus to the commercial motivation fueling the tie-up, the growing revenue potential of country music – including for well-established acts and those dipping their toes in the genre – certainly played a role in the decision.
In some ways, the last few months’ steady stream of country-crossover projects has rendered Diplo’s Honky Tonk and Beyoncé’s country album (which arrived closer to the top of 2024) distant memories.
To be sure, Marshmello and Kane Brown made a commercial splash with their pop-country effort “Miles on It” in May, Post Malone’s preparing to drop F-1 Trillion on Friday, and even UMG-partnered Cirque du Soleil is looking to get in on the action. Meanwhile, R&B star Monica is poised to release a country album of her own, produced this time by Brandi Carlile.
