Britney Spears hitmaker Justin Tranter warns “there won’t be anymore” songwriters if labels don’t step up

Justin Tranter, the songwriter behind hits for Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Chappell Roan, and countless more has raised the alarm on the future of songwriting.

In a candid interview with Hollywood Reporter, the 45-year-old warns that if labels don’t start taking care of their writers, very soon “there won’t be any anymore”.

“The song is the most important part of the music business. It all starts at the fucking song. So why aren’t we taking care of the people who make the song? It’s crazy,” says Tranter.

Arguing for better support for songwriters, he adds, “if the labels don’t start taking care of songwriters, there won’t be any anymore, and it’s just going to be old people like me, who can afford to work for free.”

Tranter notes that while a small number of privileged writers like him can still make a living, the next generation faces steep challenges, particularly in the streaming era.

“I want it to be clear that I’m not complaining for me,” he says. “The bulk of the money I made was through radio, film and TV, when songwriters could still make real money. Across all the streaming platforms that give you numbers, I think I’ve had just over 70 billion streams. Very little of the money I’ve made has come from that. I’m very, very scared for this next generation of writers.”

At the heart of the problem, says Tranter, is the imbalance between creatives and the executives running the show: “The songwriter problem is a billionaire problem. And that’s where we should be focusing. There are record label executives, tech executives that have made a lot of the money that me and my co-writers should’ve made.”

The looming rise of AI only adds to his fears. “If we haven’t already, we are going to start to see a decline in greatness, fewer great songs,” he warns. “And that will eventually be a decline in [the music business’s] bottom line. The new generation can’t afford to stay in the game, which is scary.”

“As someone who’s a fan first, I want new hitmakers, new people behind the scenes. I still want to keep going, but I can’t write every fucking hit.”