Top 10 Expensive Music Videos

Today in class we went through the Top 10 most expensive videos, I will list them in order from 1-10 (highest budget to the lowest budget) and explain for each what the money was spent for, eg Budget, Props.

1. $7 million

Michael Jackson - Scream

Michael Jackson's Scream is the most expensive video-to-date. It cost a sum of $7,000,000 to produce the video, this as mainly due to the graphics/animations and props required.

• Computer-generated Spaceship: $65,000
• Breaking guitars: $53,000
• Morphing artworks: $50,000
• Michael Jackson's make-up: $3,000
• Janet Jackson's make-up: £8,000 per day
• Choreography: $40,000
• Giant Video Screen: $80,000
• Lighting: $175,000
• Cost per day: $636,000
• Total cost of 11 sets: $5,000,000

2. $6.1 million

Madonna - Die Another Day

Die another day was the theme song for the James Bond movie, so quite rightfully would require a large sum to produce. A large slice of the budget was used on fencing classed undertaken by Madonna in order to come-off as a legit sword fighter. Madonna did her own stunts and duelled against herself in the video which meant a large amount of graphics and computer effetcs, this required a large sum of money.

3. $5 million

Madonna - Express yourself

 

 

Express yourself was inspired from the film Metropolis, he video Express Yourself was Madonna's way of expressing her thoughts and ideas on several social issues stemming from power and gender. Hollywood powerhouse David Fincher (who also directed Fight Club and The Panic room) led and steered the production crew in the making of this video. His talent fee alone required a huge sum from the total budget allocation.

4. $5 million

Madonna - Bedtime Story

 

Madonna and her label did not have any issues spending $5 million for the making of the Bedtime Story music video back in 1995. Fees for direction were considerably high with renowned music video director Mark Romanek at the helm. Also, the video was basically littered with tons of digital effects. While the shooting took only six days, the post production process went on for weeks. That said, the finished product was touted as one of Madonna’s most experimental music videos and has been kept by art and music galleries around the world.]

 

5. $4 million

Michael Jackson - Black or White



 

 

One of Michael Jackson’s most popular songs in his music career, Black or White was a piece directed straight at modern racism. With such a sensitive subject, MJ and his team wanted to produce an equally compelling video. The result was an instant hit. The video was one of the most watched music videos of all time and helped MJ become a global icon in the fight against racism. But the production cost was anything but cheap. Computer generated transformations, appearances of equally popular people, and turning Michael into a black panther made up a huge slice of the production’s $4 million budget. And that was way back in 1991.

 

6. $4 million

Guns N' Roses - Estranged

 

 

Guns N’ Roses was a huge band back in the day and so were the music videos of their songs. Estranged  was no different. As the title subtly implies, the song is about separation and that was the focal point of the music video. It delved on divorce and was 10 minutes long. Produced in 1993, the video was highlighted by several “expensive” scenes such as Axl Rose leaping off the deck of an oil tanker and Slash emerging from the bottom of the ocean. Also, the video also showed the band boarding a transport aircraft. And those were just some of the frames shot in the music video.

 

7. $2.7 million

Puff Daddy - Victory

 

 

Puff Daddy, Notorious B.I.G., and Busta Rhymes joined together in 1993 for the music video of Victory. It was directed by Marcus Nispel, and the total money spent for the production settled at $2.7 million. The fact that it is eight minutes long is just a sliver of the production costs. Major expenditures included appearances of Dennis Hopper and Danny DeVito, construction and destruction of a helicopter, stunt men fees, and huge fireworks also required a lot of money.

 

8. $2.5million

MC Hammer - Too legit to quit

 

 

MC Hammer totally dominated the rap music scene back in the early 1990s and it is not surprising for his lable to give a go signal to allocate $2.5 million for the Too Legit To Quit music video. Given that the year was 1991, such amount was huge and would go for $4 million today. Key highlights of the video included the appearances of James Brown and John Belushi as well as some pyrotechnic display.

 

9. $2.5 million

Mariah Carey ft. Jay Z - Heartbreaker

 

 

Mariah’s Heartbreaker music video was shot in 1999 with Brett Ratner leading the production crew. Total costs amounted to $2.5 million, which stemmed from a lot of elements that were needed for the production. The list included Jerry O’Connell’s talent fee, rent for a cinema and a mansion, as well as the animation. This was made at a time when Mariah was still a huge resounding name in the music industry.

 

10. $2.4 million

Busta Rhymes - What's it gonna be?

 

 

Produced in 1999 by Hype Williams, the music video for What’s It Gonna Be? by Busta Rhymes required $2.4 million to complete. Judging by the video’s budget, the overall costs would have been $3.9 million by today’s standards. Janet Jackson did not come cheap, but most of the money went to computer-generated transformations. In the video Busta Rhymes and Ms. Jackson morphed several times. The glass costume, worn by Rhymes, was reported to be worth $40,000 alone.