Bon Iver, real name Justin Vernon, and The National’s Aaron Dessner collaborated with Swift on the alternative-leaning new album.
Interest in the catalogs of Taylor Swift’s Folklore collaborators Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver drives streaming gains for both artists.
Bon Iver, a musical project of Justin Vernon, features on Swift’s “Exile,” which concurrently bows at No. 2 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, No. 6 on the all-format Billboard Hot 100 (both tallies dated Aug. 8) and is the album’s lead single at Triple A radio. He also contributed instrumentation to “Peace” from the album.
In the tracking week ending July 30, consumption of Bon Iver’s catalog of songs jumped 34% to 5.6 million on-demand U.S. streams, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.
“Skinny Love,” one of Bon Iver’s breakthrough songs from 2007’s For Emma, Forever Ago, leads the way with 918,000 on-demand streams, up 26%. 2011’s “Holocene” follows with 578,000 on-demand streams.
Additionally, Bon Iver’s album catalog earned 6,000 equivalent album units, up 41%. Of that sum, 1,000 units are via album sales, up 62%. He also garnered 1,000 digital downloads, a boost of 186%.
Dessner, meanwhile, produced 10 of Folklore’s songs and co-produced one more, while also boasting multiple co-writing and instrumental credits.
He’s usually a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter in The National, which in turns sees its own streaming gains as well – 2.2 million on-demand streams, up 20%. “I Need My Girl” from 2013’s Trouble Will Find Me leads all songs with 157,000 on-demand streams, a boost of 16%.
Even Big Red Machine, a collaborative project between Vernon and Dessner, earned a streaming leap; its catalog snagged 136,000 on-demand streams, up 47%.
The National crowned Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart last year for the fourth straight LP with I Am Easy to Find (June 1, 2019), while Bon Iver’s most recent release, I,I, bowed at No. 3 two months later. Big Red Machine’s self-titled debut started at No. 40 on the chart in September 2018.
The album on which they collaborated with Swift, Folklore, concurrently bows at No. 1 on the all-format Billboard 200, as well as Alternative Albums, both dated Aug. 8, with 846,000 equivalent album units earned in the tracking week ending July 30.
