Comedian Marc Maron reveals how a mutual friend helped him use a Taylor Swift song for his podcast

Comedian Marc Maron is now revealing new details about how a close friend helped him use a Taylor Swift song for his podcast. According to People Magazine, Marc Maron, during his appearance on the Good One: A Podcast About Jokes, revealed that he wanted to use Bigger Than the Whole Sky for his special, and for that, he sought the advice of his good friend, Jack Antonoff. He said:

"I know Jack Antonoff enough to text him — and he’s the co-writer on that song,”

This is not the first time Marc Maron has talked about liking Taylor Swift's music. Back in 2023, during a discussion on his podcast, WTF With Marc Maron the legendary comedian talked about discovering his love for her music, adding he eventually started loving her songs as they had notes of longing and melancholy. He said:

“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,"I’m like, ‘Alright. 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."

More about how Marc Maron got to use a Taylor Swift song for his new comedic special

Marc Maron, who wanted to use the song, Bigger Than the Whole Sky from Taylor Swift's 2022 album, Midnights, in his new comedic special, felt that the song resembled an important moment in his life. In his appearance on Good One: A Podcast About Jokes, hosted by Jessie David Fox, Macron further added that he reached out to Jack Antonoff, who has worked together with Taylor Swift on many of her songs, asking him for advice on how to get permission to use the song. He 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?'"

Following Antonoff's advice, Maron went through the proper channels and paid "$50,000" to get the permit to use the song for just one minute. He further added that he would have loved to use the song for longer, but ultimately chose not to, as it would cost him more. He said:

"It was doable. I would have gone over the minute, [but] it would have been more money

The "Glow" actor further added that he had also used a joke referencing Taylor Swift in his special, which he initially feared would not get approved. He said:

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“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.”

The special "Marc Maron: Panicked " is set to premiere on HBO Max later this week, on 1 August.

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