Music insiders are buzzing that Sony Music boss Doug Morris was courting country power manager Jason Owen — who reps Shania Twain and Kacey Musgraves — to head Sony’s Nashville division. But the talks have fallen apart.

The sticking point, we hear, was Owen not wanting to step down from his firm, Sandbox Entertainment — and higher-ups at Sony Entertainment not approving of him holding both jobs.

Sony’s now looking for other candidates for the Nashville CEO gig, open since Gary Overton exited the role in March.

Reports said Owen had turned down the Sony job back then — but we hear Morris’ courtship of Owen continued for months and only just fizzled.

“The deal’s dead in the water, and Sony’s approaching other people,” said a source. “The job’s still open. Doug kept hoping it would work out.”

The source added, “It’s been a bit of a mess in Nashville” since Overton exited in a cloud of controversy after ruffling artists’ feathers by declaring in an interview, “If you’re not on country radio, you don’t exist.”

A Sony rep had no comment.

Doug Morris (left) and Gary Overton with country star Carrie UnderwoodWireImage