Music videos are pretty self explanatory: a short film that features a specific song by an artist. Music videos have been found thought the history of the video camera, however they were popularized by MTV back in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. They have now become somewhat of a standard for musical artists or bands, and almost all of them have at least one. Now prior to doing my research for this article, I had no idea what they cost to produce. I figured they weren’t that expensive, but I was fairly wrong. There’s a long list of the most expensive music videos of all time, many of which costed a few million dollars. Now despite the sheer number of music videos and artists that are out there the most expensive ones are held by a few people. When one looks at the five most expensive music videos of all time, you will quickly learn they have been created by only two artists: Michael Jackson and Madonna. When you think about it that is not too much of a surprise as these artists have had extremely successful careers, allowing them to spend so much on music videos. So to get into it, here are the the highest budgeted music videos of all time.
5. Michael Jackson – “Black or White” – $6.9 Million
The first music video on our list is the video for “Black or White” by Michael Jackson. The original video was made to convey many different messages and it is a great starting point to introduce one to just how elaborate some Michael Jackson videos could be. The video features Macaulay Culkin, Tyra Banks, and a large cast of extras and dancers. The video also used a fair amount of special effects given that it was releaed in 1991. “Black or White” was the lead single from Michael’s Dangerous. The video costed around $4 million back in 1991, but when you adjust that for inflation it costed around $6.9 million dollars. The video was directed by John Landis and it premiered on November 14th. You have to remember that this was a time where people actively watched music videos on television. The video premiered on MTV, VH1, FOX, and BET simultaneously. Fox had estimated that around 500 million people watched the premier; not too bad.
4. Madonna – “Bedtime Story” – $7.7 Million
“Bedtime Story” is the first track to be featured on our list from Madonna. The song itself is extremely trance like and alluring and the music video certainly enhances that. The original cost of the video was $5 million dollars back in 1995, or $7.7 million if it were to be made today. The video debuted in April of that year, and was certainly very expensive. The reason a video like this costed so much is largely due to the special effects. I mean we are talking about a time when the internet was only one year old, so basic computer-based special effects were very expensive. But that did no stop Madonna from making this video. “Bedtime Story” was directed by Mark Romanek.
3. Madonna – “Die Another Day” – $7.9 Million
If you are invited to do a Bond song then you obviously have to do it up right, which is why so much money was spent on Madonna’s video for “Die Another Day”. The video was released in 2002 to coincide with the Bond film of the same name, and it originally costed $6.1 million ($7.9 million today). The song received mixed reviews, however like many Madonna videos we see it being pretty over-the-top. Regardless of the reception the song went on to be the best dance song for 2002 and 2003, and the video was nominated for a Grammy award.
2. Madonna – “Express Yourself” – $9.5 Million
The second most expensive music video of all time, and the most expensive Madonna video is “Express Yourself”. While it did cost $5 million to make, that was back in 1989, so with inflation calculated it costed $9.5 million dollars. At the time, this was the most expensive music video to have ever been made. The video was inspired by the classic German film Metropolis and was directed by David Fincher (you know the guy that did Fight Club, The Social Network, Gone Girl, and a bunch of other great films). The video went on to win a few awards at the MTV Video Music Awards that year.
1. Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson – “Scream” – $10.7 Million
Finally the most expensive music video ever made was “Scream” by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. Like some of the other Jackson videos, it featured extensive use of special effects which were really expensive back then. The video came out in 1995 and originally costed $7 million dollars, but when you adjust that for inflation they spent around $10.7 million to make it happen. Directed by Mark Romanek, the song and video went on to become huge hits, and the most expensive music video ever made.
Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images
