Golden Globe and Grammy-nominated songwriter, Justin Tranter, wins “Songwriter of the Year” at the 2018 BMI Pop Music Awards for the second consecutive year. Along with Songwriter of the Year, Tranter took home four more awards for co-writing Imagine Dragons’ “Believer”, Linkin Park’s “Heavy”, Julia Michaels’ “Issues” and Maroon 5’s “Cold”.
The 2018 BMI Pop Music Awards ceremony was held on May 8, 2018, at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, hosted by BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill and BMI Vice President Worldwide Creative Barbara Cane. The private event celebrated the songwriters, publishers, and administrators of the past year’s 50 most-performed pop songs in the United States from BMI’s repertoire.
Taken from their speech at the award ceremony last night, Tranter said, “Music changes culture, culture changes politics and politics changes the world. Our job is to change the culture because we make music. The gun violence situation in this country is fucking insane. Us in the music business have a responsibility to lead this culture and end gun violence now. It is possible and we can do it. There’s no reason to make money or win awards unless we’re going to change the f@*king world.”
In 2017 alone, Tranter landed four Top 10 smashes at Pop Radio and by year-end, the maverick garnered “Songwriter of the Year” at the BMI Pop Awards and stood out as “the only pop songwriter to land two songs on Variety’s ‘HitMakers’ Most Consumed List'”.
2018 has already been an extremely busy time for the songwriter. Not only did they become “the only songwriter nominated for both ‘Song of the Year’ at the GRAMMYS® with ‘Issues’ by Julia Michaels and ‘Best Original Song’ at the Golden Globes® with ‘Home’ from Ferdinand performed by Nick Jonas.” But they also have co-writing credits for the following: Julia Michaels’ “Jump”, Shea Diamond’s “Kesha Complexion”, Leon Bridges “Beyond”, Cardi B’s “Thru Your Phone” and Janelle Monáe’s “Make Me Feel”. They are currently in the studio working with Bebe Rexha and Gwen Stefani, among many others.
