How Many Songs Has Taylor Swift Written for Other Artists? What You Probably Didn't Know

You know the name. You know the Eras Tour outfits. You definitely know the bridge to "All Too Well." But honestly, if you think Taylor Swift only writes for herself, you’re missing a huge chunk of her actual legacy.

Taylor is famously a "confessional" songwriter. She’s the one who turns a messy breakup or a 2 a.m. epiphany into a multi-platinum stadium anthem. Yet, for nearly two decades, she’s been low-key handing off some of her best work to other people. Sometimes she does it for friends. Sometimes she does it because a song just doesn't fit her "vibe" at the moment. And sometimes, she does it under a fake Swedish name just to see if the song can survive without her face attached to it.

So, how many songs has Taylor Swift written for other artists? If we’re talking about strictly released tracks where she is a credited writer but not the primary artist, the number is roughly 15 to 20 songs, depending on how you count remixes and features. It’s a small but mighty catalog that spans country, pop, and even EDM.

The Secret Hits: Songs You Already Know (But Didn't Know Were Hers)

Most people are shocked to find out that one of the biggest club anthems of the 2010s was actually a Taylor Swift creation.

We have to talk about "This Is What You Came For" by Calvin Harris and Rihanna. This is the big one. Back in 2016, Taylor used the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg to avoid the media circus that would have followed her then-relationship with Harris. She wrote the lyrics, she recorded a demo on her iPhone, and she even sang the high-pitched "ooh" in the background. It wasn't until after their breakup that the world found out Nils was actually Taylor. It's a masterclass in pop structure, and it proved she could dominate a genre far removed from her acoustic guitar.

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Then there’s the country stuff.

Before she was a global pop deity, Taylor was a Nashville songwriter through and through. She didn't just write for herself; she was in the trenches writing for her peers.

• "Better Man" (Little Big Town): This song is a heartbreaker. Taylor originally wrote it for her album Red, but it didn't make the cut. Years later, she sent it to Little Big Town because she could hear their harmonies on it. It went on to win "Song of the Year" at the CMAs.
• "Babe" (Sugarland): Another Red reject that found a perfect home. She co-wrote this with Pat Monahan from Train. It’s got that classic "early Taylor" scorn that Sugarland delivered perfectly.
• "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" (Miley Cyrus): Yes, the finale song from Hannah Montana: The Movie was a Swift original. It’s bubbly, it’s high-energy, and it’s basically the blueprint for the late-2000s teen pop sound.

The Full List of Major Songwriting Credits for Others

It's helpful to see them laid out, though the list is more varied than you'd expect. These aren't just "co-writes" where she showed up and changed one word; in many of these, her lyrical DNA is everywhere.

1. "Best Days of Your Life" - Kellie Pickler (2008): Co-written with Kellie during the Fearless era. You can practically hear Taylor's sass in the lyrics.
2. "Bein' With My Baby" - Shea Fisher (2009): A deep cut from Taylor's early Nashville days.
3. "This Is Really Happening" - Britni Hoover (2009): Another early vault-style track she handed off.
4. "Two Is Better Than One" - Boys Like Girls (2009): She’s a featured artist here, but she also helped write the track.
5. "Both of Us" - B.o.B (2012): A rare foray into hip-hop where she wrote her own hook.
6. "Beautiful Ghosts" - Francesca Hayward (2019): Written with Andrew Lloyd Webber for the Cats movie.
7. "Renegade" - Big Red Machine (2021): Written with Aaron Dessner during the Folklore/Evermore sessions.
8. "The Alcott" - The National (2023): A collaboration with Matt Berninger where she shares writing credits.
9. "The Life of a Showgirl" - Sabrina Carpenter (2025): A more recent credit that highlights her mentorship of newer pop stars.

Why Does She Give Songs Away?

Honestly, it’s a bit of a flex.

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For a lot of artists, a "hit" is a precious resource they’d never let go of. For Taylor, the songs are seemingly infinite. She writes so much that her "vault" is basically a legendary archive of unreleased music. Sometimes a song like "Better Man" is incredible, but it just doesn't fit the narrative of the album she’s currently making. Instead of letting it rot in a file, she gives it to a friend.

There’s also the E-E-A-T factor—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust. By writing for others, Taylor establishes herself not just as a "singer," but as a professional songwriter. It’s the difference between being a chef who can only cook one dish and being a Michelin-starred artist who can design a whole menu for different restaurants.

She’s even used her own re-recording project, Taylor’s Version, to "reclaim" some of these. When she released Red (Taylor's Version), she included her own versions of "Better Man" and "Babe." It was a way of saying, "I'm glad they sang it, but it's still mine."

The Nils Sjöberg Mystery and Other Pseudonyms

The "Nils Sjöberg" incident in 2016 was a turning point. It showed that Taylor was hyper-aware of how her celebrity status can overshadow the music itself. If she had put "Written by Taylor Swift" on a Calvin Harris track at the height of their relationship, the headlines would have been about their romance, not the beat.

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By using a pseudonym, she proved the song was a hit because it was a good song, not just because it had her name on it. She’s also been linked to other "secret" projects, like the Jack Leopards & The Dolphin Club cover of "Look What You Made Me Do," where she reportedly used the name again for production credits to keep her brother Austin's involvement under wraps.

Impact on the Charts

When Taylor writes for others, the songs almost always perform.

• "Better Man" hit #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.
• "This Is What You Came For" went 6x Platinum in the US.
• "Best Days of Your Life" was Kellie Pickler's highest-charting single at the time.

It’s a "Midas Touch" situation. Artists seek her out because she understands the architecture of a hook better than almost anyone else working today.

What's Next?

If you want to really understand Taylor's craft, don't just stop at her albums. Go back and listen to the songs she gave away. You’ll hear the same lyrical tricks—the specific imagery, the conversational bridges, the "easter eggs"—that she uses in her own work.

Actionable Insight: Check out the songwriter credits on your favorite "hidden" pop tracks. You might be surprised to find Taylor's name (or a weird Swedish pseudonym) buried in the metadata. If you're a musician yourself, study the structure of "Better Man." It's a perfect example of how to build emotional tension using only three or four chords and a really strong narrative arc.

Next time you hear a song on the radio that feels a little too catchy or a little too relatable, check the credits. It might just be a Taylor Swift song in disguise.