Justin Tranter’s Facet Records has announced it will be the first record label to give songwriters master points as the standard.
The announcement will see Facet redistributing three points out of the company’s own share on every master for songwriters who aren’t the artists or producers. Facet says the rise of digital streaming has left songwriters out in the cold while everyone else in the equation has adapted. Unless contributing to a radio hit, songwriters across the board have struggled to garner equitable pay in recent years.
Facet’s unprecedented initiative is the first step in giving songwriters a seat at the table when it comes to streaming royalties in the modern era and an overdue shakeup that intends to inspire similar action across the industry. Facet Records and Facet Publishing officially launched in 2020 in West Hollywood, CA. It’s become a platform for groundbreaking artists to flourish and have their voices heard.
Justin Tranter is one of the most in-demand songwriters and producers in music today. He’s an ACLU Bill of Rights Award-winning activist with over 50 million single sales, 50 billion streams on Spotify and YouTube alone, and multiple diamond-certified songs under his belt. Tranter has collaborated with Selena Gomez, Dua Lipa, Halsey, Imagine Dragons, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Janelle Monae, King Princes, Leon Bridges, and many more.
Now serving as the executive music producer and songwriter for Paramount+’s new Grease prequel series ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,’ Tranter has shaped the musical identity for a slew of film and television projects in recent years—from Billy Porter’s directorial debut ‘Anything’s Possible’ to Hulu’s record-breaking ‘Happiest Season,’ Netflix’s ‘Purple Hearts’ and more.
Facet Records is home to emerging talents like Jake Wesley Rogers, Shawn Wasabi, Shea Diamond and YDE. Tranter aims to give these songwriters a chance to see ownership on the master side. The publishing side of the business produces less than the master recording side does and the decline of physical sales has impacted songwriters most.