Comedian Reveals Cost Of Using 1 Taylor Swift Song In His Act, And It’s No Joke

Comedian Marc Maron said the cost to use a Taylor Swift song in his standup special was “doable” within limits.

Maron said on Vulture’s recent “Good One” podcast that the sum he paid was for “up to a minute” of her 2022 song “Bigger Than The Whole Sky.”

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

Maron made the deal with Swift’s intermediaries after the song’s co-producer, Jack Antonoff, encouraged him to try “proper” channels to reach the pop star before he’d help. But he “never heard back from him,” Maron said.

“It was doable,” said Maron, who originally thought the payment would have to come out of his own pocket. “We made enough money. It was tight, but because of the ticket sales for the special, we were able to get that song.”

Maron’s special, “Panicked,” is set to debut on HBO on Aug. 1, and Maron said the bit involving the song is in both the opening and closing. The show can also be streamed on HBO Max.

“I have no idea if Taylor Swift saw the bit or not,” he said.

Incidentally, the $50,000 that Swift and her associates made from Maron’s use of her song is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the estimated $360 million she earned in reclaiming ownership of numerous master recordings recently.

Fast-forward to 1:35:08 for the lowdown on Maron’s deal with the pop icon: