Music videos are an important marketing device which increase sales for artists. Michael Jackson’s music videos were one of the first to use the idea of the short story film. This is one of the reasons he makes the most expensive music videos.
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.
Most expensive music videos ever made
- Scream – Michael Jackson (featuring Janet Jackson) $7,000,000
- Victory – Diddy (featuring Notorious B.I.G. & Busta Rhymes) $2,700,000+
- Heartbreaker – Mariah Carey $2,500,000
- What’s It Gonna Be – Janet Jackson (featuring Busta Rhymes) $2,400,000+
- Larger Than Life – Backstreet Boys $2,100,000+
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, orVictory. source.
Being an expensive video seems to have its rewards, as the video for Scream, from the album History Past Present And Future Book 1 ended up with a Grammy in 1996 for Best Music Video (short form). The video was also awarded Best Dance Video, Best Choreography and Best Art Direction at the MTV Music Video Awards 1995. The video also won Pop/Rock Video of the Year at the Billboard Music Video Awards in 1995.
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