10 most expensive music videos

[Fresh-Ta-Def]

When MTV launched on August 1, 1981, the first music video it played was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. What an awful video. In those days, all a music video needed was jiggly girls in bikinis, big hair, fast cars, and if you were lucky, jiggly girls with big hair driving fast cars. No huge costs, just a little something to complement the listening experience.

Then came along Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in 1983. "Thriller" wasn't a music video, it was a full-fledged crotch-grabbing experience. At 14 minutes long, "Thriller" suddenly opened the doors of creativity, proving that a music video could be more about the video and less about the music. Today, companies will spend millions of dollars to make a 3-minute video (most of it spent on computer animation and huge sets). We are proud to present a list of opulent indulgence: the 10 most expensive music videos of all time.

To be fair, though, we've instituted some ground rules:

A group/artist can only appear once on the list. Known as the Michael Jackson Amendment, this rule makes the list a whole lot more interesting. But artists doing a one-time collaboration with others are fair game (allowing Janet Jackson to pop up 3 times).

If the video is for a song from a movie, then it doesn't count. Otherwise, Celine Dion's warbling of "My Heart Will Go On" would win hands down (because it included expensive scenes from Titanic). To qualify, the images in the video must have been created solely for that video.

Studios lie about how much they spend. They don't want to seem too wasteful, so our figures are probably a little off. But it's an interesting list anyway, so deal with it.

10. "Girlfriend/Boyfriend"

Cost: $1,500,000+

Artist: Blackstreet (featuring Janet Jackson)

This video is completely computer animated, taking place inside a pinball machine. The basic "plot" is that Blackstreet and Janet Jackson feel like pinballs, bouncing uncontrollably through their lives, when it's all really just a game. What made it so expensive? Well, computer animation ain't cheap, and neither is Janet Jackson (the same cannot be said about sibling Latoya . . .)

Janet's wardrobe: $10,000

Blackstreet's wardrobe: $25,000

Janet's travel costs: $50,000

Blackstreet's travel costs: $200,000

3-D animation costs: $600,000

9. "November Rain"

Cost: $1,500,000+

Artist: Guns N' Roses

An 11-minute video extravaganza, this video tells the supposed tale of singer Axl Rose and model Stephanie Seymour getting married, having a party, and living out their lives together until death. And all it took was 11 minutes? . . . A classy video that combines storytelling with live concert performances, Guns N' Roses actually paid for the video themselves, to insure that it looked as they envisioned.

Renting a symphony orchestra: $25,000

Specially constructed chapel: $150,000

Wedding dress: $8,000

Specially constructed coffin: $8,000

8. "Unpretty"

Cost: $1,600,000+

Artist: TLC

While their video "Waterfalls" was technologically more groundbreaking, "Unpretty" ended up costing more because the group argued over every little detail (almost doubling the projected cost). The story of the video starts out with women in a plastic surgeon's office contemplating breast implants, but they somehow get involved in a gang fight in a back alley. All the while, TLC sits on these weirdo floating pods while doing yoga chants. Nobody said these videos have to make sense . . .

Floating yoga pods: $60,000

Field of purple flowers: $50,000

Laptop computer animating breast enhancements: $63,000

Flying robot camera: $35,000

Hairstyling: $11,000

Makeup: $25,000

Costumes: $11,000

7. "She's a Bitch"

Cost: $2,000,000+

Artist: Missy Elliot

For some videos, you have no idea where the money went. What made it cost so much? Greedy accountant skim off the top? Tons of footage never used? Missy Elliot's "She's a Bitch" is a perfect example of such confusion. A rap song that essentially features Miss Missy mugging for the camera in a rubber body suit (or dancing on an M-shaped stage with her Missy-ettes), how this video ended up costing $2 mil is a mystery.

Missy Elliot's rubber wardrobe: $10,500

Glow-in-the-dark cape: $3,500

M-shaped stage: $30,000

Silver suits for the extras: $12,000

Total set: $850,000

Makeup: $6,000

Special effects for a stormy sky: $20,000

6. "Miami"

Cost: $2,000,000+

Artist: Will Smith

Will Smith is notorious for spending googobs on his music videos, especially because they often serve the dual purpose of promoting his movies. The video to "Wild Wild West" cost $3 million alone, and the video to "Men In Black" is also up there. Of course, such videos aren't allowed placement on our list, but they go to show that Will Smith is no stranger to spending money on his videos. For "Miami," Smith chose to follow the ever-popular path of using computer morphing techniques, sending the budget sky-rocketing. The entire video consists of the Fresh Prince morphing from location to location (we counted at least 40 morphs), and each morph costs about $14,000. The sad thing is, the song ain't that great.

Private jet rental: $15,000

Each morph transition: $14,000 (and there were least 40 of these)

Floating Miami set: $500,000

Models: $10,000

Choreography: $200,000

5. "Larger Than Life"

Cost: $2,100,000+

Artist: Backstreet Boys

Fine, fine, they're all hotties. No use denying it. But unlike their competitor über-boybands *NSync and 98°, the Backstreet Boys are actually pretty good (they were even nominated for a Grammy for their second smash album, "Millennium," proving that they have industry respect). The Backstreet Boys made more money in 1999 than any other entertainer, $66 million, so dropping $2 mil on a video is chump change. In "Larger Than Life," the story is that the B-Boys are space-fighting robots in some bizarro Star Wars meets Voltron cyberworld. Replete with computer animation and special effects, it doesn't make much sense but it looks pretty cool.

Cryogenic chamber model: $20,000

Flying surfboard scene at beginning: $90,000

3-D animated models: $45,000

Robot costumes for the B-Boys: $56,000

Exterior shot of the space station: $70,000

Dance stage: $80,000

The cost to fly the crew to the set: $150,000

Director's fee: $150,000 (for just 4 days of shooting)

Total special effects: $600,000

4. "What's It Gonna Be"

Cost: $2,400,000+

Artist: Busta Rhymes (featuring Janet Jackson)

A tremendously cool video involving tons of special effects that Busta Rhymes co-directed. The story involves Busta (as some kind of morphy glass creature) hookin' up with Janet (also a morphy glass creature). They sing, they morph, they sing, and they morph a little more, and at the end of the video, they both explode into little glass shards. Gross. But in a good way.

The visuals are reminiscent of movies like The Abyss and Terminator 2: Judgment Day in which a humanoid creature is able to change its appearance, yet still appear completely believable. In "What's It Gonna Be," Janet and Busta are constantly mushing around each other, sometimes transparent (like glass), sometimes reflective (like mirrors). Believe us, you can see where the $2.4 million went.

Virtual set: $100,000

Each morph: $30,000 (boy, did these add up . . .)

Busta's glass costume: $40,000

Janet and Busta's explosion: $20,000

3. "Heartbreaker"

Cost: $2,500,000+

Artist: Mariah Carey

Here's a video that makes almost no sense. Mariah starts out on a movie date with B-level star Jerry O'Connell, when some hoodlums start throwing popcorn at them. To escape the trauma, Mariah runs to the bathroom, where she encounters her evil twin (portrayed by Mariah in a black wig). Good Mariah and Evil Mariah start getting all Jackie Chan on each other, when they turn into cartoons. Then the video ends.

Much like Missy Elliot's "She's a Bitch," we have no idea why this video turned out to be so expensive. We can only suspect that the first version stunk, so they probably did some re-shooting. We would've hated to see the first version, though.

Movie theater rental: $100,000

Mansion rental (in the movie): $40,000

Hairstyling: $13,000

Dog and its trainer: $6,000

Fight coordinator: $7,000

Animation: $80,000

Jerry O'Connell's cameo fee: $10,000

2. "Victory"

Cost: $2,700,000+

Artist: Puff Daddy (featuring Notorious B.I.G. & Busta Rhymes)

"Victory," like 5 others of the videos on this list, is a rap video, and what a rap video "Victory" is. It has everything, including exploding airplanes, suicidal leaps from buildings, helicopters, and shootouts. Like much of Puff Daddy's repertoire, this video is about a man's escape from the police who are wrongly accusing him of a crime. As P.D. runs across the city's rooftops, a bunch of snobs in a party look out the window at the ensuing action, obviously wishing that they had such excitement in their lives. And playing through the background of the entire video is an opera aria that lends the entire video a dramatic flair. While it may not have much computer animation, this video definitely has a "movie feel" to it; this level of detail is what makes the video cost so much, and seem so cool.

Building an airplane and blowing it up: $55,000

Pyrotechnic special effects: $100,000

Artificial rain: $10,000

Helicopter rental: $21,000

Stuntman fee: $5,000 per jump from building to building

Security on the set: $10,000

1. "Scream"

Cost: $7,000,000+

Artist: Michael Jackson (featuring Janet Jackson)

Michael Jackson's videos have always been ridiculously expensive. In 1983, he spent $800,000 on "Thriller," which would be about $1.4 million today. But remember that before "Thriller," no one even came close to spending that kind of money, and he had to do it with limited technological capabilities. As technology improved, Jacko's videos became more expensive, spending over $1.2 million on "Black or White" in 1992, and even more on "Remember The Time." But if he can keep an oxygen chamber, a petting zoo, the Elephant Man's bones, and an entire plastic surgery team in his mansion, it's certainly no biggie to drop another $7 mil on a video with his sister.

"Scream's" $7,000,000 price tag is more than twice as much as the next most expensive music video (Puff Daddy's "Victory" at $2.7 million), and it's easy to see why: he spent $5 million alone on 11 sets. Yet while watching the video, it all seems incredibly wasteful, not coming close to the film quality of "Thriller", "November Rain," or "Victory."

Computer-generated spaceship: $65,000

Breaking guitars: $53,000

Morphing artworks: $50,000

Michael's makeup: $3,000

Janet's makeup: $8,000 a day

Choreography: $40,000

Giant video screen: $80,000

Lighting: $175,000

Cost per day: $636,000 (about 11 days)

Total cost of 11 sets: $5,000,000

[mfuqua23]

Interesting. They should do the cheapest next time. Of course, those #s will still be astounding.

[Fresh-Ta-Def]

I'll look around for the cheapest tommrow

[Da Brakes]

Theres a channel over here called 'Channel U' where a bunch of cheap videos are made!! Some just do it with a camcorder!

[KevTastic]

Makes me think i could get tons of work with wack rap crew in London making vids for them for Channel U. Some of them are just so boring and plain. There's a cheap video then there's a cheap video with no creativity.

[rawad_m]

what was so good abou :shrug: t heartbraker?

[Da Brakes]

Makes me think i could get tons of work with wack rap crew in London making vids for them for Channel U. Some of them are just so boring and plain. There's a cheap video then there's a cheap video with no creativity.

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You seriously could Kev!! No joke! Some of the standards on there are just terrible! :daveuidiot:

[Jonny 5]

Cool list, I always wondered how much those 'morphs' cost. 14000 seems extortionate! They can't be that hard to do, I bet they're a lot cheaper nowadays...

[Lerkot]

The purple shirt cost $1 000 000!

[WesSyde]

nice to see Will on there. why'd they have to diss him tho? stupid madatems!

[Turntable]

Why is November Rain in it?

Thats just like Thriller!

If Thriller isn`t a VIdeo Clip than November rain also isn`t one in my opinion!

[PeaceAngel]

:interesting: thanx for putting that up! :dope:

[Fresh-Ta-Def]

see they said that if wills movies singles were aloud on the list they would be #1

[rawad_m]

Scream isen't worth 7 mil, but it has to be one of the most underrated michael jacksin songs ever-that was one of my fav songs of '96 and one of his top 10