How Much It Cost Marc Maron to Use a Taylor Swift Song in HBO Special

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Marc Maron said goodbye, goodbye to a chunk of change.

As a lifestyle expert, I’d like to share an intriguing financial tidbit from my recent conversation with the charismatic podcast host. He divulged the cost he had to bear for featuring Taylor Swift’s enchanting ballad, “Bigger Than The Whole Sky,” in his forthcoming comedy special titled, “Marc Maron: Panicked.” This captivating tune holds a significant role in concluding his stand-up performance.

On the Vulture’s Good One podcast on July 25th, Marc clarified that it was approximately $50,000. He went to great lengths to ensure his joke reached her.

Although the 61-year-old wanted to include the song in his performance, he was unsure about obtaining the necessary rights. To address this issue, he contacted Taylor Swift’s friend and collaborator, Jack Antonoff.

Marc stated that he has a close enough relationship with Jack Antonoff to text him personally. He explained, ‘I asked if there was any way you could help with this song or maybe discuss it with Taylor, since we’re running out of funds for this project and it might have to come from my own pocket.’

Jack proposed that they follow the appropriate procedures and investigate the incident, which fortunately turned out in favor of the comedian, despite the substantial cost of $50,000 for using only a brief segment of the track.

He commented that it was feasible considering the cost. We had sufficient earnings. It was a close call, but thanks to the revenue from the special event tickets, we managed to secure that particular song.

For Marc, the effort was justified as he could utilize the emotional ballad, initially an extra track on Taylor’s 2022 album “Midnights.

He mentioned, ‘This song and me having it on my phone, it was inevitable.’

Apart from him, another individual – Jenny Han – has been equally insistent on incorporating a Taylor Swift song into their work. In fact, Jenny Han herself contacted the 35-year-old artist to discuss using her music in Amazon’s adaptation of “The Summer I Turned Pretty”.

She mentioned on the “Open Book” podcast in January that she had penned a letter, stating it was similar to a handwritten note. Then, she expressed her feelings about what it would mean, not only for herself, but also for the fans.

She remarked, “That was the present I truly desired to bestow, as I thought they would be thrilled. And it turned out we were incredibly fortunate to receive more than one.

Keep reading for how Taylor has managed to keep her career bigger than the whole sky.

Taylor Swift composes every note of her music, and that includes the entire “Speak Now” album which she wrote alone without any collaborators. This album was launched in October 2010, a time when Taylor herself was only 20 years old.

2. She spent her childhood on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania, along with her family. This setting is reflected in the lyrics of her self-titled holiday song.

3. She’s named after James Taylor. That’s right, from one music legend to another.

In 2003, just like celebrities such as Channing Tatum, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Roberts, and Ashton Kutcher, Taylor Swift also worked as a model for Abercrombie & Fitch.

In 2006, Eric Church received his first gold record from her, after she invited him to join Rascal Flatts’ tour following his dismissal. As Church recounted to the Arizona Daily Star, “She called me after I got fired. I read in the paper that we were fired. She called and said ‘I want you to know that I love what you do.'” Church jokingly said, “This is your crowd; they’re going to love you. You’re going to owe me your first gold record.” However, when she indeed received her first gold record, she honored the jest by giving him one with a heartfelt note that read, “Thanks for playing too long and too loud on the Flatts tour. I sincerely appreciate it. Taylor.

6. She possesses flexible elbows that bend beyond the normal range, as evidenced by her statement during her 2016 Vogue “73 Questions” video, where she was asked about any unique or peculiar abilities she might have. In reply, she admitted that while this is not technically a talent, it’s one of the few things she can do: she has double-jointed elbows.

7. Her drink of choice? Vodka and Diet Coke, as revealed in that same Vogue video.

8. She chose to disable comments on her social media platforms as a means to “shield herself from some of the distractions.” In an essay for Elle titled “30 Things I Learned Before Turning 30,” Taylor wrote, “Social media can be beneficial, but it can also overwhelm your mind with pictures of what you’re not, how you’re falling short, or who is in a more appealing location than you at any given instant. To minimize this nagging sense of inadequacy, I have adopted the practice of disabling comments on my posts. In doing so, I share updates about my life with my friends and followers, but I also help my brain learn to function without the validation of someone telling me that I look fantastic.

Initially, Taylor Swift had planned to title her seventh studio album “Daylight.” However, since this album was the successor to “reputation,” she felt “Daylight” might be too obvious a choice. When she composed the song “Lover,” she then decided that would make a fitting name for the album instead.

10. Taylor Swift, at the tender age of 20, became the youngest artist to ever win Album of the Year. She received this prestigious award in 2010 for her highly acclaimed album titled “Fearless.

2024 will forever be etched in my heart as the year I witnessed history unfold before my very eyes, as Taylor made it four times lucky at the Grammy Awards! She became the first female artist to claim the Album of the Year title an unprecedented four times, with her masterpieces “Fearless”, “1989”, “Folklore” and “Midnights”. I still can’t believe it, and I’ll be celebrating this incredible achievement for years to come!

12. In just a few short months, the singer’s album titled “Lover” managed to sell over 1 million pure copies within the United States, as reported by Chart Data. This remarkable achievement made it the first album in 2019 to reach this significant milestone.

13. More historic achievements! At the 2019 American Music Awards, Taylor outdid Michael Jackson’s record and became the most honored artist at the AMAs.

When Taylor was young, she aspired to become a stockbroker, much like her father. However, her real passion lay in music, and when the opportunity arose, Taylor, along with her family, moved from Pennsylvania to Tennessee to begin her musical journey.

Around when she turned 12, she picked up playing the guitar after picking up a few chords from a tech working on her computer. From there, she wrote her debut song titled “Lucky You.

16. Taylor is deeply fond of Phoebe Waller-Bridge. In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly about her admiration for Fleabag, Taylor shared, “She can make you laugh out loud, surprise you, and tug at your heartstrings all within a few minutes in that show.” Remarkably, Taylor even shared the stage with Phoebe Waller-Bridge when she hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live!

In 2009, I penned my own monologue for my stint on Saturday Night Live – a rarity among celebrity guests. With the catchy tune of “Monologue Song (La La La),” I left an undeniable impression on the SNL team that night.

18. She has been best friends with Selena Gomez ever since their connections through the Jonas Brothers. (In case you missed it, SelGo stood by her friend during her November 2021 return to Saturday Night Live to perform a ten-minute rendition of “All Too Well.”) Way back in 2008, Taylor was linked with Joe Jonas, while Gomez was dating his younger brother Nick Jonas. They soon grew close and have remained friends ever since. In fact, Taylor offered to be the flower girl at Gomez’s wedding to fiance Benny Blanco.

In the cherished song “Fifteen” by Taylor Swift, there’s a mention of a red-haired friend named Abigail. Interestingly enough, this Abigail Anderson is still very close friends with Taylor! In fact, Taylor was even a bridesmaid at her wedding in 2017.

20. She serves as a godmother to Jamie King’s son, Leo Thames, as well as the daughters of her best friends Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds: James, Inez, and Betty.

Taylor said she might not perform “Soon You’ll Get Better,” a song about her mom’s cancer fight, because it’s difficult to compose, perform, and listen to for her. However, she acknowledges that music can sometimes be tough.)

Taylor Swift doesn’t use the social media app that was once called Twitter on her phone. In a conversation with Billboard, she shared, “Occasionally, when I open Twitter, I feel overloaded to the point where I quickly shut it down. For some time now, I haven’t had Twitter on my phone because I prefer to limit the amount of news I consume. I keep up with politics, but I don’t care about who has split up or what shoes someone is wearing. My brain can only handle so much information at once.

Taylor stated in an interview with Rolling Stone in September 2019 that she confides in her mother a lot because her mother has been privy to all of the events that have transpired over the last 29 years of her life. She added that it takes a long time to explain everything to someone new, and her mom already knows everything about her.

24. As stated in an interview, the lines she cherishes most from her “Lover” album are: “Gentlemen, could you all rise, please? / With each guitar string scratch on my palm, I embrace this powerful attraction as my boyfriend.

In an exhilarating turn of events, I find myself joining the ranks of the billionaires, thanks to an October 2024 report by Bloomberg. For more than a decade, my Eras Tour has been breaking industry records, and this latest milestone is a testament to that unwavering success.

26. The 2019 Netflix film titled “Someone Great” sparked the creation of her music. She expressed that the movie made her cry and for almost a week, she was waking up from dreams where she found herself living out the storyline – as if it were happening to her in real life. During an interview with Elvis Duran, she shared this. The lyrics for the song came to her based on the relationships depicted in the film, and she worked with Jack Antonoff in the studio to produce “Death By a Thousand Cuts.

27. She sets aside a particular space for her deeply moving tunes. Ranging from “All Too Well” to “The Archer,” this renowned artist typically places a ballad in the penultimate position on her albums.

28. I’ve had enough of the secretive act: Fact is, since 2023, I’ve been unabashedly cheering for my partner, Travis Kelce, at NFL games. As I shared with Time magazine, “When a relationship is public, it means I get to witness him doing what he adores, we support each other in the limelight, and there are others around too, and we don’t bat an eye. The alternative is going to great lengths to keep our relationship under wraps. But we’re simply proud of one another.

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2025-07-29 04:48