Taylor Swift’s music doesn’t come cheap, and comedian Marc Maron learned that first hand.

On the Thursday, July 24 episode of Vulture’s Good One podcast, Maron revealed that the price to license just a minute of Swift’s track “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” for one of his comedy shows was a steep price. ”I think it came out to $50K [or] around that,” Maron, 61, said. “I did everything I could to get the joke in front of her.”

The song appeared in Maron’s live shows after he worked with Swift’s collaborator, Jack Antonoff, to secure the rights.

Maron shared that he had a personal connection to the song, which drove him to include it in his set. “It had to happen,” he explained. While he didn’t know if Swift herself ever heard the bit, he was determined to make it work. “The real fear is, like, [if] she doesn’t let you use it, and then what do you do? You can’t do the bit on the special. That’s why I was, like, [manifesting] ‘I think she’ll like the bit.’”

After reaching out to Antonoff, Maron learned that securing the track involved navigating the proper licensing channels. The cost, however, was only for a brief moment of the song: “If I would have gone over the minute, it would have been more money,” Maron said. The bit ended up being under a minute long, allowing Maron to avoid paying additional fees. “We couldn’t even let it, like, play out the special or anything,” he stated.

Maron also discussed his emotional connection to the song, sharing how it deeply moved him. “It got me, man,” he said, recalling how the song’s themes of grief and loss resonated with him. Maron also revealed a surreal moment during a hike where the track made him feel a rush of emotions, leading to a near-fainting incident.

Despite the hefty fee, Maron was happy to have secured the song. “People love Taylor Swift [and] grown-ups, too.”