Britney Spears' producer thinks it is ''better'' when pop stars mime.

Chris Braide, 42, worked with the 'Pretty Girls' singer on 2013 LP 'Britney Jean' and has defended the use of backing tracks during live performances.

Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, Chris said: ''Proper pop was much better when people mimed. As a producer, you spend weeks and weeks trying to make this thing sound absolutely perfect for people to listen to and love and then the poor artist goes on TV and is meant to sing it live in one take at nine in the morning. It's nonsense.

Britney, 33, is currently midway through a two-year residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas and Chris says the focus should be about putting on an amazing show.

He said: ''Even Michael Jackson had things on track. It's about a show you know. It annoys me when people attack pop-stars. Pop stars are not there to be Mario Lanza (an American tenor), they're there to be a fantastic pop star.''

Chris - who released his LP 'Universal Mind' with his band This Oceanic Feeling on music streaming service Spotify last month - added that he is proud of his work producing the ''best vocals'' the star has ever done at his Los Angeles studio.

He said: ''We spent a day in the studio and the rest of the time I was editing and working back at my place. She was really sweet and really hard working. She stayed for hours giving me what I wanted and I put her through her paces, and I really do think I got one of the best vocals out of her that she's ever done.

''I was really proud of it. It was a lot of hard work, I spent five or six days just on the vocals, but I wanted to show everybody that she can really sing this.''