Just in : Comedian Marc Maron Stunned Fans After Disclosing the Jaw-Dropping Price He Paid Just to Feature Taylor Swift’s Music in His Show…See More

Just in : Comedian Marc Maron Stunned Fans After Disclosing the Jaw-Dropping Price He Paid Just to Feature Taylor Swift’s Music in His Show…See More

The comedian says licensing “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” for his standup set nearly came out of his own pocket

Marc Maron has shared just how much it cost to include Taylor Swift’s music in his latest comedy special, and the figure is no small sum.

Speaking on Vulture’s Good One podcast, the 61-year-old comedian revealed he paid around $50,000 to secure the rights to Swift’s 2022 track Bigger Than the Whole Sky for a joke he insisted “had to happen.”

I think it came out to $50K, around that. I did everything I could to get the joke in front of her,” Maron said.

The song, from Swift’s Midnights album, appears briefly in the televised version of his standup show. The price tag allowed him to use just under one minute of the track, with stiff penalties if he went over. “If I would have gone over the minute, it would have been more money,” he explained.
Maron said he first attempted to go through Swift’s longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff in hopes of lowering the licensing fee.

“I know Jack Antonoff enough to text him, and he’s the cowriter on that song,” Maron recalled.

“I said, ‘I don’t know what’s proper or how to do this, but we’re running out of money on this thing. It’s probably going to come out of my pocket. Is there anything you can do about this song or talk to Taylor?'”
Antonoff, however, pointed him toward the standard licensing process. “He told me to go through the proper channels,” Maron said with a laugh. Despite the steep cost, the comedian said the ticket sales from the special ultimately covered the expense, though it was “tight.”

To make the most of the moment, Maron even worked with a band to create custom opening and closing music around the short clip of Swift’s song. “We couldn’t even let it, like, play out the special or anything,” he said.
For Maron, the inclusion of Bigger Than the Whole Sky was personal. “It had to happen,” he said. “The real fear is, like, she doesn’t let you use it, and then what do you do? You can’t do the bit on the special. That’s why I was, like, ‘I think she’ll like the bit.'”