Comedian reveals what it costs to use one minute of Taylor Swift’s music in a comedy special

Marc Maron shares the five figure price he paid to licence “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” in his stand-up special.

Marc Maron has revealed he paid approximately $50,000 to feature Taylor Swift’s “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” in his latest stand-up special. Speaking on Vulture’s Good One podcast, the comedian detailed the licensing process and the effort it took to secure the song.

“I think it came out to $50K or around that,” said Maron. “I did everything I could to get the joke in front of her.” Despite knowing Swift’s co-writer Jack Antonoff personally, Maron said Antonoff encouraged him to follow formal licensing procedures.

Maron, 61, used about one minute of the track, explaining that exceeding that limit would have increased the fee. “We couldn’t even let it play out the special,” he noted. To work around that, Maron collaborated with a band to create custom music for the opening and closing.

He said the decision to include the track was rooted in a personal connection. “It had to happen,” Maron stated. “The real fear is, like, she doesn’t let you use it, and then what do you do?” Fortunately, Swift’s team approved the request, though Maron doesn’t know if she heard the bit herself.

Maron previously discussed his emotional response to the song on his WTF podcast, describing how it moved him during a hike. The track, from Swift’s 2022 Midnights album, explores themes of grief and emotional reflection, tones Maron felt resonated with the material in his show.