Cost associated with music video production can be expensive, there's no doubt about it—from computer-generated graphics and animation to extravagant props and shooting locations, the costs can pile up quick.
A typical music video produced using professional video production can cost anywhere from $20,000-500,000. There are several music videos produced each year that tip the $1 million mark, but those are definitely exceptions to the norm. Obviously the larger the budget is, the more glamorous each shooting location can be.
Editing can create sensational special effects and action shots that lower budgets can't handle. However, just because a music video has a large budget does not mean it will fare better than lower budget videos. Success often depends on many other factors including the artist/band, the genre of music, and how well the music video relates to viewers. With that said, it often amazes people that some producers and artists will spend millions of dollars on a single music video.
So what is the most expensive music video of all time? In this article, we will take a look at which music video cost the most to produce, and we will take an in-depth look at why it cost so much to produce.
Michael and Janet Jackson - "Scream"
The most expensive video of all time is "Scream," a pop/rock music video featuring Michael and Janet Jackson. This video was created and released in 1995, with an original budget of $7 million. Yep, $7 million. If that sounds expensive for a single music video, it is. But that was over twenty years ago—in today's market, the GDP of the video would be a staggering $10.7 million. We've seen full-length movies produced for less.
"Scream" was released to a national audience on ABC's "Primetime Live." Jackson had just married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, and was interviewed by Diane Sawyers about both the music video and his recent wedding. Approximately 64 million viewers watched the interview and music video premiere.
"Scream" was written and produced by Michael and Janet Jackson, along with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Lewis and Jam had worked with Janet Jackson on previous videos. The video was directed by Mark Romanek, who has directed multiple video mega-hits including “Johnny Cash - Hurt,” “Nine Inch Nails – Closer,” and more recently, “Taylor Swift – Shake It Off.”
The video was Michael's response to media criticism when he was accused of child sexual abuse, accusations which never resulted in formal charges against the artist. In the song, "Scream," Michael tells the media to stop pressuring him and misrepresenting the truth. Janet's involvement in the video was a show of support for her brother.
Why was Michael Jackson's "Scream" music video so expensive?
The recording process of the video production was the most expensive part. The video was shot over an 11-day period on 11 different sets. The total cost for the 11 sets came to about $5 million.
- Makeup: We all know how Michael loved his makeup, so it may be a bit surprising to know that his makeup cost $3,000, while Janet's makeup cost $8,000 per day.
- Spaceship set: The spaceship set was elaborately-built, and it took a huge chuck of the budget to build. Other parts of the spaceship were computer-generated. The computer-generated spaceship cost $65,000. In 2011, the Michael Jackson estate held a Michael Jackson Fan Fest, which allowed fans to buy a ticket, then enjoy much of his memorabilia. One such exhibit fans were able to access was the spaceship set from "Scream."
- Instruments: Jackson played the keyboard, synthesizer, guitar, drums and percussion for the video, guitars being the most costly. $53,000 in guitars were broken during the video recording process.
- Choreography: Choreography has always been an integral part of any Michael Jackson video, and "Scream" is no exception. Total choreography costs came to around $40,000.
- Artwork: The morphing artwork came to a total cost of $50,000.
- Video Screen: The huge video screen shown in the background of various scenes cost $80,000.
- Lighting: The lighting had to be perfect for the video to achieve such clarity and contrast. Total cost for lighting came to around $175,000.
- Total Cost Per Day: The total cost of the video came to $7 million, approximately $636,000 per day!
Michael Jackson - Scream Achievements
At the 1995 MTV Music Awards, "Scream" was nominated for 11 awards, winning three: "Best Dance Video", "Best Choreography", and "Best Art Direction". It also won the Best Pop/Rock Video award at the Billboard Awards. At the Grammy awards, it won Best Music Video (Short Form).
Mark Romanek Refutes "Most Expensive Video" Claim
According to "Scream" director Mark Romanek, the video was not the most expensive video of all time, although Romanek could not produce any evidence otherwise. Here is an excerpt of a quote from an interview, which lays out his version of why the video cost so much to create, as well as his refutation of the claim that "Scream" is the most expensive video of all time.
"Yeah, I mean, listen. I want to go on record, again, as saying that "Scream" is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most expensive music video ever made. This is not true. Guinness made a mistake.
Their book is inaccurate. There was a music video made by Propaganda Films back in the day for Guns N' Roses and for Michael Jackson that cost millions of dollars more than "Scream." "Black and White" cost $9 or $10 million. And some Guns N' Roses extravaganza with oil tankers, I can't even remember the name of is, cost something like $9 or $10 million. So I am annoyed that I am on record as this profligate maniac who spent $7 million."
"The reason that video cost such an obscene amount of money was that the record label came to me too late with a hard release date. And they said, 'We've got the two biggest pop stars in the world, brother and sister, Janet and Michael together for the first time.' And Michael's crazy. Everything's got to be the biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest, best, best ever in all of history. And they gave me something like five weeks from the day they came to me to this hard premiere date. The song brought to mind, these sounds of explosions and stuff in the beginning sounded like spaceship engines igniting and stuff. So I got this idea about these two lonely brother and sister in their own private spaceship, kind of based on Cocteau's Les Enfants Terribles. Where am I going to go? The spaceship location?
So had to build all huge sets and do all these huge effects. Think about it. It takes two weeks minimum to figure, write it down, prep it, and budget it. Then it took 10 days to shoot it. That left us two and a half weeks to edit it and do the visual effects. So they, not me, had to throw money at it to get it done. And two million dollars of that was Michael and Janet's perks and security and campers and trailers and assistants who have assistants that have assistants. So two million of that didn't even go on the screen."
Can a Cheap Music Video Fare Well?
Absolutely. The video “Praise You” by Fatboy Slim cost only $800 to create, and the video went on to be nominated for four major MTV Music Awards, winning three of them: Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, and Best Choreography. It was nominated for "Best Dance Video."
Conclusion
While it may seem strange that the most expensive music video is a Michael Jackson video which is more known for its cutting-edge CGI than his typical choreographed dancing, it's easy to tell Jackson had a fire burning within him during the video. Cost was of no concern to Michael at this time, he simply wanted to ensure his message got across. The video may not be the most exciting or well-designed video Jackson has ever released, but it still holds the spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most expensive music video of all time.
