The 10 Most Expensive Music Videos Of All Time
Can you guess who is leading the Top 10 Most Expensive Music Videos of all time?.
- The famous American filmmaker, Mark Romanek, directed two of the top 5 most expensive music videos.
- Madonna has three videos in this top, and Michael Jackson has two, together they occupy the Top Five spots.
The roots of filmed music “promos” date back to the 1960s when it was a cheap way for solo-singers and bands to do TV appearances without traveling. But they came into prominence in 1981, when MTV first went on the air, and since then music videos became a significant part of the industry for the last three decades.
- Some music artists are creating art for the next generations, and some are just trying to sell more copies, but were they worth all that money? We will let you decide!
10. “Victory” by Puff Daddy ft. The Notorious B.I.G. has the 1oth highest production price for a music video– $2.7 million.
Directed by Marcus Nispel, the video honors the 1987 science-fiction film The Running Man and is the 10th highest budget for a music video with an estimated cost of $2.7 million.
- Recorded by Sean Combs (or famous known as Puff Daddy) for his debut album in 1997 “No Way Out,” the song “Victory” features Busta Rhymes and the two final verses recorded by The Notorious B.I.G. a day before his sudden death.
- It features Dennis Hopper as President Victor Castiglione (a New World Order dictator) and the actor Danny DeVito as a live-action reporter.
9.” Cartoon Heroes” by Aqua has the 9th biggest budget for a music video– $3,5 million.
“Cartoon Heroes” is a track by the danish-Norwegian pop group Aqua from their second album “Aquarius,” which became the best-selling single of 2000 in Denmark.
Directed by Thomas Masin, the music video for “Cartoon Heroes” was shot in December 1999, with a final production price of $3.5 million it ranks as the ninth most expensive music videos of all time.
8. “Make Me Like You” by Gwen Stefani ranks as the 8th most expensive music video ever created – $4 million.
“Make Me Like You” video was released digitally on 15th February 2016 and had the eight highest-budget for a music video with an estimated cost of $4 million.
- “Make Me Like You” is the 2nd single from Gwen Stefani’s third album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like (2016).
- The music video directed by Sophie Muller was premiered during the commercial break for the 58th Grammy Awards ceremony.
The event was sponsored by Target Corporation, with an investment of $12 million into Gwen’s new album campaign.
7. “Earth” by Lil Dicky ranks as the 7th most expensive music video ever made – $4 million
Earth video estimated budget is of $4 million and features all the artists as all kind of creatures animals and plant, starting with Lil Dicky as The Man.
- Released three days before 2019 Earth Day, Lil Dicky song carries a strong message for humans, it brings environmental awareness about the climate change dangers and how will affect the entire planet.
- For the biggest collaboration of decade, Lil Dicky teamed up with DiCaprio and over 30 of the world’s most famous singers.
- Ed Sheeran plays as a koala bear,
- Justin Bieber as a Baboon,
- Ariana Grande as a Zebra,
- Katy Perry as a Pony,
- Snoop Dogg as a Marijuana,
- and Kevin Harts as Kanye West.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays as himself, trying to recreate a scene from the 1997 movie Titanic and before the video ends, you can hear Leo saying the track might be his “favorite song ever.”
6.“Estranged” has the 6th biggest budget for a music video production – $6.9 million (originally $4 million)
“Estranged” video clip is the sixth most expensive music video ever made, with an estimative budget of $4 million in 1993, featuring its main theme, separation.
- With 9 min. and 23 sec., the power ballad is the longest song from Guns N’ Roses fourth album “Use Your Illusion II,” and their second-longest song overall after ‘Coma.’
The music video’s live scenes were filmed in Munich, Germany at Olympia Stadium.
5. “Black and White” by Jackson is the 5th most expensive music video ever made – $7.3 million (originally $4 million)
“Black or White” music video cost $4 million to produce in 1991, and at the time it was the most expensive ever created.
“Black or White” is Jackson’s first single from his 8th album Dangerous, and video directed by John Landis, it was an instant hit everywhere around the globe.
- The 11-minute video was premiered simultaneously in 27 countries on MTV, VH1, and BET, gathering a global audience of 500 million.
The rock’ n roll song about the modern racism, debuted at #35 on Hot 100 and in three weeks ascended to #1, becoming the fastest chart-topper since Beatles did it in 1969 with ‘Get Back.’
4. “Bedtime story” has the 4th highest production price for a music video – $8.2 million (originally $5 million)
It is the third single of her sixth album from 1994 “Bedtime Stories.” Currently, “Bedtime story” song ranks as having the fourth biggest-budget production for a music video, around $8.2 million in 2019 dollars.
- “Bedtime story” is the first of Madonna’s three videos on this list.
- The music video released on 10th March 1995 was directed by the same man who would later direct the music video that currently reigns this top, by Mark Romanek.
Even though this song is not among Madonna’s greatest successes, its expensive surrealistic video is permanently displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in NY.
3. “Express Yourself” has the third biggest budget for a music video – $10,1 million (originally $5 million)
“Express Yourself” video ranks as the 3rd most expensive music video ever with the total budget production of $5 million at the time of his creation ($10.1 million in 2019 money).
Express Yourself” is the 2nd single from Madonna’s fourth album “Like a Prayer.”
The music video of “Express Yourself” was released on 17th May 1989 was directed by David Fincher (same film director of Fight Club) and inspired by the 1927 german film Metropolis.
- Express Yourself won the Billboard trophy for the Best Music Video of 1989 and three MTV Music Video trophies including the Best Direction & Best Cinematography.
2. “Die Another Day” by Madonna is the second-highest expensive music video ever produced – $8,4 million (originally $6.1 million).
The Bond-inspired music video cost was $6.1 million at the time, and ranks as the 2nd most expensive music video ever made.
“Die Another Day” is the theme song of the 20th James Bond, released film which marked the franchise’s 40th anniversary year in 2002.
- The song was released on 22nd October 2002 by Maverick Records and was the best-selling dance song for two years in a row (2002-2003).
1. Scream by Michael Jackson reigns as the most expensive music video ever created – 11.5$ million (originally $7 million).
Michael Jackson and Janet paid $7 million at the time, to create Scream’s video which for 24 years reigned as the most expensive music video of all time.
Scream was released in May 1995 as the lead single of Michael’s 9th album “HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I.”
- After its succesful video debut on “Primetime Live” where it gathered over 64 million views, Scream won the Grammy trophy for Best Music Video.
- The music video directed by Mark Romane marks the first and only time in Michael Jackson’s career when he used the term ‘Fuck’ in his lyrics:
” Stop pressuring me/Stop fucking with me.”