Marc Maron Spills $50K on Taylor Swift’s “Bigger Than The Whole Sky” for HBO Special
Hey there, I’m Riley Carter, tapping in with just enough enthusiasm to make this worth your scroll.
Okay, but like… why is this a thing? Marc Maron, the stand-up comic turned podcast phenom, just dropped major cash to soundtrack the finale of his new HBO special, Marc Maron: Panicked. He confirmed on Vulture’s Good One podcast that licensing Taylor Swift’s bonus track “Bigger Than The Whole Sky” ran him about $50,000. Yes, you read that right — fifty thousand dollars for under sixty seconds of Swift’s heartbreak anthem.
The special lands August 1 on HBO and HBO Max, and Maron was adamant he needed that precise song to close out his routine. It wasn’t exactly plug-and-play: the 61-year-old had to navigate music-clearance red tape and a tightening budget. Desperate, Maron pinged Jack Antonoff, Taylor’s frequent collaborator and co-writer on the track. “I texted Jack because I know him,” Maron said. “I told him we were burning cash on this project and asked if he could talk to Taylor or pull some strings.” Antonoff directed him back to the standard licensing route, and Maron’s production team got on it. Even with that steep price tag, he calls it “doable” thanks to ticket sales for live recordings of the show.
This isn’t the first time Swift’s music commanded big-ticket attention in visual media. Author Jenny Han, adapting her teen romance novel to Amazon’s The Summer I Turned Pretty, personally penned a handwritten letter to Swift begging for rights to sprinkle “Cruel Summer” throughout Season One. She scored not just one but multiple Taylor tracks, much to fans’ delight.
Bigger Than The Whole Sky first debuted as a bonus cut on Taylor’s 2022 Midnights album. Maron says it speaks to his own vulnerability and ties in perfectly with his onstage confessionals. He admits it was a stretch to foot the bill himself, but total commitment to the bit won out.
Swift’s career is filled with DIY cred and headline-making stats: she wrote every song on her Speak Now album solo at age 20, grew up on a Pennsylvania Christmas tree farm, modeled for Abercrombie as a teen, and even named herself after James Taylor. Fun fact: she gifted Eric Church his first gold record after he backed her early career. And yes, she’s got double-jointed elbows.
At the end of the day, Maron’s gamble paid off, marrying his raw comedy to Swift’s sweeping melody. It’s a reminder that great art sometimes comes with a steep entry fee.
Either way, that’s the story. Do with it what you will.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! Online, Vulture’s Good One podcast, Open Book podcast
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
