By Byron Jupiter · Billboard Metadata · Hot 100 chart dated October 17, 2026 · checked October 16, 2026
This week this site finished credits reports on all four songs at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 dated October 17, 2026. Read side by side, the credits show the same ingredients again and again. Four songs is a small sample, so read these as patterns, not rules.
The four records
| No. | Song and artist | Weeks | Writers | Producers | Label line |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Patient Zero,” Taylor Swift | 2 | Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback | Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback | Republic Records; ℗ in Swift’s name |
| 2 | “Choosin’ Texas,” Ella Langley | 51 | Ella Langley, Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Joybeth Taylor | Ella Langley, Ben West, Miranda Lambert | SAWGOD Records/Columbia |
| 3 | “Boston,” Stella Lefty | 27 | Stella Lefty, Grace Enger, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Joe Reeves, Noah Kahan (as reported) | Joe Reeves (as reported) | Atlantic Outpost |
| 4 | “Been By Now,” Morgan Wallen | 11 | Morgan Wallen, Charlie Handsome, John Byron, Blake Pendergrass, Rocky Block, Taylor Phillips | Joey Moi (co-producers reported, unconfirmed) | Big Loud / Mercury |
Chart positions and weeks come from Billboard’s chart page. Credits come from the full reports linked in the table, where every source is listed. For “Been By Now,” the writers and producer are confirmed in Big Loud’s announcement.
The ingredients
- The artist writes. All four artists are credited writers on their own songs.
- Small rooms. Three to six writers per song. Not one person alone, and not a crowd.
- The producer writes too. Max Martin and Shellback wrote and produced “Patient Zero.” Miranda Lambert wrote, produced and sang on “Choosin’ Texas.” Joe Reeves is reported as writer and producer on “Boston.” A producer who writes is paid twice: once from the song, once from the recording.
- Artists who produce. Swift and Langley both carry producer credits on their own records. That gives them a hand in the recording, not just the performance.
- Long partnerships. Joey Moi has produced most of Wallen’s catalog. Swift is working again with a team she has had hits with before. Labels back pairings that have already worked.
- Staying power over a big first week. “Choosin’ Texas” is in its 51st week and “Boston” its 27th. These songs climb and hold.
- A melody people already half-know. Noah Kahan is credited on “Boston” because, per press reports, its chorus resembles his “Stick Season.” The credit was settled before release.
- Tested live first. Wallen played “Been By Now” for a stadium crowd the week before it came out, per Big Loud.
- A smaller label’s name, major-label reach. SAWGOD with Columbia, Atlantic Outpost under Atlantic, Big Loud with Mercury. Swift goes further: the recording line carries her own name while Republic releases it.
The formula in one line: an artist who writes, a producer who writes, three to six people in the room, a team that has won before, and a major label behind a smaller label’s name.
The ingredient left off the label: the players
Two of the four records name their session players in public. “Choosin’ Texas” was cut with a named band at Sound Emporium in Nashville, and “Patient Zero” lists three players in one service’s credits but not in another’s. “Boston” and “Been By Now” name no players at all in any official source checked. That gap matters for one pot of money in particular.
When a song plays on digital radio, such as SiriusXM or internet radio, SoundExchange splits the royalty three ways under federal law: 50% to the owner of the recording, 45% to the featured artist, and 5% to non-featured musicians and singers. That 5% is paid through the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Fund. If nobody writes the players down, the fund has a harder time finding them, and their money can sit unclaimed.
A plan for the 5%: match it for the Byron Jupiter Fund
The 5% belongs to the players by law, so an artist or a label cannot give it away. But the people at the top of the chart can do something just as strong: match it. This site proposes a simple pledge for every hit record:
- Name every player and engineer in the credits on every service, so the 5% reaches the people who earned it.
- Artists and labels match the 5% out of their own shares, the 45% and the 50%, and give that match to the Byron Jupiter Fund for Voice$ of Tomorrow, the New Orleans program that trains the next generation of music-business operators.
- Players who collect can choose to add to it. The choice is theirs, never the label’s.
Done this way, the players keep what the law already gives them, and the community gets a second 5% on top. The four records above earn from digital radio every week they stay on the chart. A match from the owners of those shares would be a real fund, not a gesture.
Disclosure: the Byron Jupiter Fund and Voice$ of Tomorrow are run by Byron Jupiter Jr. through The Box Studios, the same team behind this site.
Q&A
Q: What do the top four Hot 100 songs have in common?
A: Artists who write their own songs, producers who also write, rooms of three to six writers, long partnerships, and a major label behind a smaller label’s name.
Q: How are digital radio royalties split?
A: SoundExchange pays 50% to the recording’s owner, 45% to the featured artist, and 5% to non-featured musicians and singers through the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Fund.
Q: Can an artist or label donate the 5%?
A: No. The 5% belongs to the non-featured players by law. Artists and labels can match it from their own shares and give that match to the Byron Jupiter Fund for Voice$ of Tomorrow.
Q: What is the Byron Jupiter Fund?
A: The community fund behind Voice$ of Tomorrow, the New Orleans program run by Byron Jupiter Jr. through The Box Studios that trains emerging music-business operators.
Q: Why do session player credits matter?
A: The 5% has to find the players who earned it. When players are left out of the credits, their share is harder to pay and can go unclaimed.
Q: Which of this week’s top four name their session players?
A: “Choosin’ Texas” and “Patient Zero” name players in public sources. “Boston” and “Been By Now” do not in any official source checked.
Rendered with Renaissance Instruments.
© 2026 Byron Jupiter. All rights reserved. No copying, sampling, or AI training without written permission. sales@leasethebox.com
Leave a Reply