Dessner produced 11 songs from Swift’s new LP ‘Folklore.’
Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner top Billboard’s Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts (dated Aug. 8), respectively, powered by the former’s new surprise studio album Folklore.
The set arrives at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 846,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, starting with the largest week since Swift’s Lover last year and already becoming 2020’s top-selling album.
Swift re-enters the Hot 100 Songwriters chart at No. 1, returning to the top for a fourth week, thanks to 16 songwriting credits on the latest Billboard Hot 100—the entirety of the standard edition of Folklore.
Here’s a rundown:
Rank, Title (songwriters in addition to Swift)
No. 1, “Cardigan” (Aaron Dessner)
No. 4, “The 1″ (Dessner)
No. 6, “Exile” feat. Bon Iver (Dessner, William Bowery, Justin Vernon)
No. 13, “The Last Great American Dynasty” (Dessner)
No. 16, “My Tears Ricochet”
No. 23, “August” (Jack Antonoff)
No. 26, “Mirrorball” (Antonoff)
No. 35, “Seven” (Dessner)
No. 37, “Invisible String” (Dessner)
No. 39, “This Is Me Trying” (Antonoff)
No. 42, “Betty” (Bowery)
No. 44, “Illicit Affairs” (Antonoff)
No. 47, “Mad Woman” (Dessner)
No. 57, “Epiphany” (Dessner)
No. 58, “Peace” (Dessner)
No. 71, “Hoax” (Dessner)
Of Swift’s 16 songs on the Hot 100, 10 were co-written with Aaron Dessner, while four were co-written with Jack Antonoff. Another songwriter, William Bowery, is billed as a co-writer on two songs (“Exile” and “Betty”)—many fans have speculated about the identity of Bowery since the release of Folklore, with many claiming it’s a pseudonym for people ranging from Harry Styles, to Ed Sheeran, to Swift’s boyfriend Joe Alwyn. “My Tears Ricochet” is the one song is which Swift is credited as the sole songwriter.
Below Swift on Hot 100 Songwriters, Dessner debuts at No. 2, Antonoff re-enters at No. 3 and Bowery debuts at No. 9.
Over on the Hot 100 Producers chart, Dessner debuts at No. 1, thanks to his 11 production credits from Folklore on the Hot 100.
Dessner is credited as the sole producer on all of his credits, with the exception of “Betty,” which Antonoff and Swift co-produced.
Here’s a look at Dessner’s production credits on the Hot 100:
Rank, Artist Billing, Title (producers in addition to Dessner)
No. 1, Taylor Swift, “Cardigan”
No. 4, Taylor Swift, “The 1″
No. 6, Taylor Swift feat. Bon Iver, “Exile”
No. 13, Taylor Swift, “The Last Great American Dynasty”
No. 35, Taylor Swift, “Seven”
No. 37, Taylor Swift, “Invisible String”
No. 42, Taylor Swift, “Betty” (Jack Antonoff, Taylor Swift)
No. 47, Taylor Swift, “Mad Woman”
No. 57, Taylor Swift, “Epiphany”
No. 58, Taylor Swift, “Peace”
No. 71, Taylor Swift, “Hoax”
Dessner is a member of The National and one-half of the indie rock band Big Red Machine, alongside Bon Iver (who is featured on “Exile”). The 11 credits from Folklore are Dessner’s first appearances on the Hot 100 as a songwriter or producer. The National has also found success on Billboard’s charts, earning four top five albums on the Billboard 200, plus three No. 1s on Alternative Albums.
Below Dessner on the Hot 100 Producers chart, Antonoff and Swift each tie at No. 2.
The weekly Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot 100; plus, genre-based songwriter and producer charts follow the same methodology based on corresponding “Hot”-named genre charts. As with Billboard‘s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings).
The full Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, in addition to the full genre rankings, can be found on Billboard.com.
