POWER HITTERS:
JOSH GUDWIN

Our Power Hitters feature turns the spotlight on the brilliant songwriters and producers behind the biggest smashes in the biz, the players who regularly step up to the plate and deliver a hit—and frequently drive it clear out of the park.


Want to get to Justin Bieber? You might have to go through Josh Gudwin; he’s the guy you text if you believe you have the megastar’s next smash on your hands. He’s also a producer, vocal producer, mixer and recording engineer, with three Grammys and six Latin Grammys on his mantle.

Gudwin first met the Biebs in 2010, when he was working for Kuk Harrell—the renowned multihyphenate known primarily for vocal production, who was in the middle of projects with Bieber, Rihanna, and Katy Perry at the time. He soon became Bieber's exclusive vocal producer. In 2017 he found himself hopping on a 3am flight to Bogota to cut vocals during a tour stop and remix Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito”—now one of the most-streamed songs of all time.

Gudwin has also become a co-writer for Bieber, contributing to 16 songs on Purpose, Changes and Justice. He oversaw mixing, vocal production, engineering and A&R for Justice and co-produced a handful of tracks. He now shares in nominations for Album and Record of the Year Grammys. The latter is for his work on the triple-platinum “Peaches,” one of 2021’s biggest hits.

But Gudwin’s Grammy recognition isn’t limited to Bieber; he’s up for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, for The Marías’ Cinema as well.

His work for top acts also includes mixing for Dua Lipa (“IDGAF,” “New Rules,” “Electricity” w/Silk City). Other artists in his discography span Maroon 5, Post Malone, Bad Bunny and J Balvin.

During the pandemic, meanwhile, Gudwin helped Dolby design a top-of-the-line Atmos studio, at which he's given albums by everyone from Nas and Snoop Dogg to John Mayer and the Doobie Brothers the spatial audio treatment Apple loves.

He’s just not sure why we’re in the mix.