Marc Maron paid $50,000 to use Taylor Swift's Bigger Than The Whole Sky in his comedy special
The 61-year-old stand-up uses the tear-jerking ballad from the pop superstar's Midnights (3am Edition) album at the end of his routine and they just about managed to pay the fee to use a snippet of the track after the money started running out.
After getting in touch with the track's co-writer, Jack Antonoff, who happened to be a friend of Marc, they managed to get in touch with the right people to agree a figure for the usage.
The GLOW star said on the Vulture's Good One podcast: 'I think it came out to $50K, around that.
'I did everything I could to get the joke in front of her.'
He continued: "I know Jack Antonoff enough to text him, and he's the co-writer on that song.
'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?''
Fortunately, the ticket sales for the show meant it didn't have to come out of Marc's own pocket.
He added: 'It was doable. We made enough money. It was tight, but because of the ticket sales for the special, we were able to get that song.'
Being able to use Bigger Than The Whole Sky - which tackles grief - was a big deal to Marc.
He explained: 'My relationship with that song, and just the fact that I'm playing it on my phone.
'It had to happen.'
Taylor's music has also appeared in the likes of The Summer I Turned Pretty and The Handmaid's Tale.
Elisabeth Moss wrote a heartfelt letter to Taylor, 35, in a bid to get permission to use one of her songs in an episode of The Handmaid's Tale.
The 43-year-old actress explained how much the Grammy winner's "her music means" to her and how the inclusion of the track Look What You Made Me Do would help the show - and she was delighted when Taylor agreed for the song to be used.
Elisabeth told Entertainment Tonight: "We've been so excited ... Honestly the feedback was her saying yes. For me, that was really, truly such an honour that she took the time to read, you know I wrote her a letter about what I felt the song meant for the episode and her music means to me and our cast.
"So the fact that she said yes to me was all the feedback that I needed. "
The song was featured in episode nine of the sixth season of The Handmaid's Tale, which aired in May, and Elisabeth previously revealed she'd wanted to include a Swift song in the series for years and she'd finally found the "perfect moment".
Elisabeth told Billboard: "I've been wanting to use a Taylor song for many years on the show and we finally found the perfect spot for a track from her, and I'm so glad we waited because there could not be a more perfect song for a more perfect moment.
"Taylor has been such an inspiration to me personally. As a Swiftie myself, and I think I can speak for [co-star] Yvonne [Strahovski] and our entire cast as well, who are all Swifties, it's such an honour to be able to use her music in the final episodes of our show."
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Maron did not know if Swift has heard the specific joke that her team signed off on letting him use the track for, but he was "manifesting" that she would like it if she had. "It had to happen. The real fear (was), like, (if) she doesn't let you use it, and then what do you do? You can't do the bit on the special." Maron previously explained he studied Midnights on a hike while trying to "figure out" why people like Swift's music so much. He said on his WTF podcast in 2023: "I'm an open-minded guy, and I like music. I (wanted) to try to figure out what it is about Taylor Swift that everyone never shuts up about." After listening to the record, he said: "I'm like, 'All right. I get it.' It's pop music, but it's not dance music (and) it's, sort of, emotional. There's a lot of longing and sadness and isolation and processing these overwhelming feelings of melancholy." Maron previously hailed his new special, which premieres on Friday, as the "best work" he has ever done. Marc Maron has paid $US50,000 ($A76,648) to use just one minute of a Taylor Swift song in his stand-up special. The 61-year-old comic felt he needed Bigger Than the Whole Sky - a bonus track on the 3am edition of Taylor's 2022 album Midnights - for a pivotal moment in his HBO show Marc Maron: Panicked. He got in touch with mutual friend Jack Antonoff for help in licensing the track, and while his pal was able to offer advice on going through official channels, he could not obtain him a discount on the fee. Speaking on Vulture's Good One podcast, Maron said: "I know Jack Antonoff enough to text him - and he's the co-writer on that song. "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?' "It was doable. "I would have gone over the minute, (but) it would have been more money." Maron did not know if Swift has heard the specific joke that her team signed off on letting him use the track for, but he was "manifesting" that she would like it if she had. "It had to happen. The real fear (was), like, (if) she doesn't let you use it, and then what do you do? You can't do the bit on the special." Maron previously explained he studied Midnights on a hike while trying to "figure out" why people like Swift's music so much. He said on his WTF podcast in 2023: "I'm an open-minded guy, and I like music. I (wanted) to try to figure out what it is about Taylor Swift that everyone never shuts up about." After listening to the record, he said: "I'm like, 'All right. I get it.' It's pop music, but it's not dance music (and) it's, sort of, emotional. There's a lot of longing and sadness and isolation and processing these overwhelming feelings of melancholy." Maron previously hailed his new special, which premieres on Friday, as the "best work" he has ever done. Marc Maron has paid $US50,000 ($A76,648) to use just one minute of a Taylor Swift song in his stand-up special. The 61-year-old comic felt he needed Bigger Than the Whole Sky - a bonus track on the 3am edition of Taylor's 2022 album Midnights - for a pivotal moment in his HBO show Marc Maron: Panicked. He got in touch with mutual friend Jack Antonoff for help in licensing the track, and while his pal was able to offer advice on going through official channels, he could not obtain him a discount on the fee. Speaking on Vulture's Good One podcast, Maron said: "I know Jack Antonoff enough to text him - and he's the co-writer on that song. "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?' "It was doable. "I would have gone over the minute, (but) it would have been more money." Maron did not know if Swift has heard the specific joke that her team signed off on letting him use the track for, but he was "manifesting" that she would like it if she had. "It had to happen. The real fear (was), like, (if) she doesn't let you use it, and then what do you do? You can't do the bit on the special." Maron previously explained he studied Midnights on a hike while trying to "figure out" why people like Swift's music so much. He said on his WTF podcast in 2023: "I'm an open-minded guy, and I like music. I (wanted) to try to figure out what it is about Taylor Swift that everyone never shuts up about." After listening to the record, he said: "I'm like, 'All right. I get it.' It's pop music, but it's not dance music (and) it's, sort of, emotional. There's a lot of longing and sadness and isolation and processing these overwhelming feelings of melancholy." Maron previously hailed his new special, which premieres on Friday, as the "best work" he has ever done.
