Marc Maron Shares How Much It Took to License a Taylor Swift Track — and the Famous Friend Who Made It Happen
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Published by Cel Manero from Global One Media Inc.
The comedian and podcast host featured Taylor Swift’s “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” in his upcoming stand-up special.
Marc Maron revealed that securing the rights to use a Taylor Swift song came with a steep cost.
The 61-year-old comedian and podcast host spent a significant sum to include one of Swift’s tracks in his forthcoming stand-up special. During the July 25 episode of Vulture’s Good One podcast, Maron disclosed that licensing Swift’s “Bigger Than the Whole Sky,” a bonus song from the 3am Edition of her 2022 album Midnights, came with a price tag of roughly $50,000.
Maron explained that he believed the song was essential for a key moment in his upcoming HBO special, Marc Maron: Panicked. To try and make it happen, he reached out to Jack Antonoff, a mutual friend and co-writer of the track.
“I know Jack well enough to send him a text,” Maron said. “I told him, ‘I’m not sure what the proper route is here, but we’re running low on funds. I might have to pay out of pocket. Any chance you could help with this song or maybe talk to Taylor?’”
Antonoff, 41, advised Maron to pursue the proper licensing process, and eventually, Maron got the green light to use the track.
“It ended up being possible,” Maron noted, though he clarified that the $50,000 only covered about a minute of the song. “I would’ve gone longer, but the cost would have gone up,” he said.
Maron added that he doesn’t know whether Swift, 35, has heard the bit that features her music, but he hopes she’d appreciate it if she has.
“It had to be in there,” he said. “The real concern was, if she didn’t approve it, then what? I wouldn’t be able to include the joke in the special.”
Although Maron didn’t reveal what the joke was, he’s previously talked about his growing appreciation for Swift’s work.
“I’m open-minded and I love music,” he said during a May 2023 episode of his WTF with Marc Maron podcast. “I wanted to understand why Taylor Swift is such a huge cultural force.”
