 Chairman of the Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group, Jimmy Iovine, worked directly with contestants this season as the in-house mentor.Additionally, a team of Universal Music-associated producers and songwriters, such as Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Timbaland and Alex da Kid, also worked alongside the contestants to help them take on original arrangement and material.Some suggested changes, such as allowing the finalists to release music while the season is still in progress rather than waiting to record an album, were not implemented, although music were released somewhat earlier than previous seasons.