From the Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan to John Lennon, engineering a successful career in the ruthless Serengeti of New York City is something most struggling musicians dream of. Its reputation as the Mecca of show business has led artists from across the globe to make a name for themselves in the cosmopolitan giant. 

But not this young musician, Will Timberlake’s journey to The Big Apple is not one filled with hope of a life in the lights; this internet marketing master has traded the keys for spreadsheets as he leaves his life in the UK behind and sets sail for a new life at a tech startup, this September. 

Will Timberlake, Born William Timberlake, was born in London and moved to Chichester when he was 12. Originally, Will had no dreams of making it in the music industry despite being classically trained in violin and drums since he was 7; it was never his passion and “it was something I was always encouraged to do” by his family. 

With dreams of being a successful entrepreneur as a child, his passion for music didn’t come until he was 12, when he came into possession of his dad’s VHS tape of Queen’s 1985 Live Aid set. Timberlake described it as “the coolest thing I’ve ever seen” and began writing his own songs.

After a brief period of rebellion at 15, in which Will found himself “smoking a bit of weed”, his passion for music was reignited by “just playing piano”, and due to his classical training, he picked up the skill of songwriting with ease and began to pursue it as a hobby. Inspired by soft-rock bands such as U2 and Coldplay, Will received positive feedback from his peers in high school after posting some YouTube videos of his early songs, which he “looks back on and it’s crap”. 

After finishing college, Will had no desire to go to university and preferred the idea of wanting to “fuck off to Thailand and figure out my life from the beach”. But not wanting to disappoint his parents, Will settled on studying Popular Music at Leeds Conservatoire, one of the most prestigious music universities in the U.K. and Europe. After switching to the Songwriting course in year 2, Will was grateful for the time he studied at Leeds Conservatoire, as he wanted to “learn as much about the industry as he possibly could”, as well as giving him time to work on his childhood dreams of being an entrepreneur. 

Struggling to make money as a student in a new city, Will decided to take an online course on how to make videos for TikTok shop advertisements, a business which was proving extremely lucrative for people in the years post-pandemic. After “working hard for a summer”, Will began to see some success and managed to achieve over 100 million views across all of his advertisements.

As Timberlake had proven his worth within the community, he began taking on more responsibilities, managing small teams of people and scaling brands using promotional content. His capability led him to be offered a permanent role at a company in New York, which he will start on September 1^st.

Timberlake was surprised that such a monumental opportunity had been offered to him, stating that “if you had told me this is what I’m doing, I would be like…explain that”. But despite his clear success in marketing and business, Will’s love and desire to create music have certainly not ceased believing that “In this day and age, the musicians that do really well, are businessmen as well”. Timberlake firmly believes that musicians in the age of social media must be more malleable and skilled than ever before, as musicians have had to adapt and learn the specialised skills of social media marketing to promote themselves. Even stating that “if you’d told Kurt Cobain to start making TikToks, he would probably quit making music altogether”.

Regarding releasing new music, Timberlake is hesitant to put out new music without a clear “project or backing”. Stating that he has over “50 tracks on my computer that need to be put out”. Despite this, he believes that before he moves to New York, music will be released and “packaged up in a project”. Timberlake knows that it would be a “disservice” to keep his songs locked away, but struggles with the mental barrier of releasing such personal and vulnerable music. In addition, Timberlake wants to establish a clear target audience in the same way “Sabrina Carpenter, Tate McRae and Benson Boone” have established such a strong brand, before releasing any more original material.

Timberlake plans to use his success in business to positively impact the world and achieve his idea of “freedom” through financial means. Taking inspiration from figures such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr, Timberlake wants to “impact the world in a meaningful way” and said that “if he died tomorrow, I’d regret not putting out music”.

As he sets his sights on leaving his home and going to New York, Timberlake is destined to achieve his own form of greatness. His entrepreneurial spirit will lead him to achieve seismic things both inside and outside of music.