Popular artists make a fortune with the six zeros after the dollar sign in their music careers, but don’t think they’re just spending all those fabulous sums on themselves. Expensive jewellery, private jets and “I want my own man” entertainment are also in their lives, of course, but they don’t spend money on their creative projects. Here are ten undeniable proofs! He collected the most expensive clips in the history of the music industry.
10th place
Mariah Carey and Jay-Z – Heartbreaker
Cost: $2.5 million
In 1999, Mariah released a joint video with Jay-Z. Fun fact, but most of the money was spent on the rapper’s animation because he wasn’t able to participate in the movie. Who hasn’t heard of saving? The clip became so popular that it not only covered the costs, but also brought the star several million more into the piggy bank.
9th place
puff daddy
Cost: $2.7 million
Rappers have never stopped making music videos for their tracks. But Puff Daddy holds the record for spending nearly three million dollars (that’s still a huge amount today, but in 1998 it seemed so high). Most of the money went to helicopters, pyrotechnics and other vehicles.
8th row
Aqua-Cartoon Heroes
Cost: $3.5 million
At the beginning of 2000, Danish-Norwegian group Aqua released the most expensive video of their career. Now you might think we’re talking about the legendary Barbie Girl song, but no! We’re talking about a track from his second studio album, Cartoon Heroes. Why is it so expensive? It’s simple, in the opinion of the director of the video, the musicians were in space and in some scenes it was as if they were weightless. Such special effects required a lot of money.
7th row
Michael Jackson
Cost: $4 million
Michael Jackson, the undisputed king of pop music, has dozens of hits on his account that more than one generation knows by heart. The musician also always approached the clips very responsibly and did not spare money for its implementation. So, one of the most expensive videos (not just in his career, but in the entire music industry) was the video for the hit Black Or White. It cost $4 million to make, and the video itself garnered more than 500 million views on the day it aired on national television.
Filming took eight weeks. Michael Jackson’s music video featured actors Macaulay Culkin, George Wendt, and Tess Harper. By the way, the clip originally consisted of two parts. True, the latter should have been removed, because it caused a flurry of criticism from society. People found it very provocative because of the Ku Klux Klan symbols, offensive racist inscriptions and the fascist swastika.
6th row
Gwen Stefani – Make Me Like You
Cost: $4 million
This clip of Gwen Stefani was released in 2016 and pretty much broke records not only in terms of viewership but also in terms of cost. $4 million is no joke. The music video is a Warner Bros. withdrew from the company. During the live broadcast of the 58th Grammy Awards. Most of the money was used to buy airtime, while the rest was spent on production.
5th place
madonna
Cost: $5 million
Madonna, like any other, knows how to surprise her fans. And it’s not just about his scandalous antics (by the way, there were a lot of them), but also about expensive clips. Ranked third in her career and fifth in the entire industry is the singer’s Bedtime Story video released in 1994.
It took the team several months to prepare the concept, and the video itself was shot in six days. The result is a true masterpiece made history thanks to references to the works of surrealist artists Remedios Varo, Frida Kahlo, Leonor Fini, as well as to the films of Soviet directors Andrei Tarkovsky (Stalker) and Sergei Parajanov (The Stalker). Pomegranate Color).
4th row
madonna
Cost: $5 million
If Michael Jackson is the king of the music industry, then Madonna rightfully takes the title of queen. Express Yourself is another masterpiece that we are ready to sing odes to the performer. This video was momentarily directed by David Fincher and inspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent film Metropolis. In 1989, this music video became the most expensive in history.
3rd row
guns and roses
Cost: $5 million
The top three led the rock band Guns N’ Roses. These guys have always been famous for their expensive music videos. For example, they spent two million dollars on the visual component of November Rain. The money was spent on hiring a symphony orchestra and even building a chapel specifically for filming. But Estranged broke all records, 5 million dollars were spent on its creation.
The song was written in 1991 but was released only two years later, so the video has many references to that era of the band. Most of the money was spent hiring a large tanker and a dozen dolphins.
2nd row
madonna
Cost: $6 million
This 2002 video of Madonna received a Grammy nomination and earned unspoken “cult” status from millions of fans. Rare props and props were used for the shots, which were long stored in Hollywood museums. So in the clip you can see a golden pistol, sword and rapier from Star Wars and Moonraker.
1 row
Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson
Cost: $7 million
And Michael Jackson’s Scream, which won the rating of the most expensive clips (who can doubt this). Although the video was released in 1995, no one has been able to break this record until now. It is based on the cult movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. “We didn’t have a real spaceship, so we just built it,” said Mark Romanek, the video’s director. So no more questions about what they spent $7 million on!
Source: People Talk
