Taylor Swift’s Songwriting and Production Analyzed: 13 Secrets to Her Chart Success “The ideas are my favorite part of everything

The ideas are my favorite part of everything I do. That moment where you’re like, ‘Oh, I know what it’s called,’ or ‘I know what the hook is now.’ ”

Taylor Swift mused about her creative process upon the release of her 2020 documentary, Miss Americana.

After arriving on the Hot 100 dated Sept. 23, 2006, with her debut single, “Tim McGraw,” Swift first reached the top 10 on the chart dated Aug. 30, 2008, with “Change”; five weeks later, she returned to the region with “Love Story,” with both songs from her sophomore album, Fearless. In 2022, she became the first artist to infuse the Hot 100’s entire top 10 in a single week with 10 tracks from her album Midnights.

On charts dated May 4, 2024, Swift earned her latest chart achievements with the arrival of her album The Tortured Poets Department at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and its single “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone, atop the Hot 100, with, in a Hot 100 first, Swift claiming the chart’s top 14 positions

How has Swift’s songwriting and production evolved over the decade-and-a-half-plus since she first hit the Hot 100’s top 10? What stands out as unique in her craft? And, what techniques has she employed that have helped make her The Eras Tour groundbreaking?

Hit Songs Deconstructed, which provides compositional analytics for top 10 Hot 100 hits, recently held a masterclass, studying Swift’s top 10s from Fearless through Midnights, followed by the April 2 release of its complimentary 93-page report, “The Taylor Swift Evolution.”

Via insights from David Penn, who co-founded Hit Songs Deconstructed with Yael Penn, here is a look at 13 secrets to Swift’s historic Hot 100 success.

Billboard: Are there any main differences in Swift’s songwriting or production between the earlier and more recent, well … eras of her career, and any notable similarities?

Penn: When it comes to production, shifts across albums have been both subtle and notable. Early on, her move from country, pop and rock influences to full-blown mainstream pop happened gradually, which also helped avoid alienating her core fanbase.

The perfect balance of old and new was most evident on 2012’s Red. However, as time went on, the shifts became more pronounced, especially across Reputation, Lover, Folklore and Evermore. This evolution worked because the OG Swifties were in it for the long haul, and she was gaining a whole new set of fans with each album, thanks to her changing styles, sounds, vibes and personas. It’s kind of like taking a page out of the David Bowie playbook.

Another big change is in her use of guitars, both electric and acoustic. They were a defining feature of Swift’s early music, but started to fade after Red, except for the hits from Folklore and Evermore, which leaned more towards singer-songwriter and folk styles.

Then there are some techniques that were once part of her signature sound but have since been dropped, possibly to avoid becoming too predictable or due to stylistic irrelevancy. A prime example is what we at Hit Songs Deconstructed call the S.I.A. technique: section impact accentuator. This is where parts or all the instrumentation are pulled from the mix to spotlight a hook, often at the end of a chorus. While this is a staple of Swift’s early sound, it became less frequent as time went on. You can really hear it in “Love Story,” “…Ready for It?” and “Lover,” among other songs.