‘Scream’ Still Most Costly Short Film

Immediately after their inception, music videos took the music landscape by storm and instantly became an integral part of the industry. Rarely does a song become a hit if it is not accompanied by an audio-visual presentation. People are more stimulated by what they see and music videos are effective in stimulating audiences, getting them to relate with the song as well as facilitating the retention and recognition of both song and artist.

As music videos are effective platforms in promoting the song and the singer, many artists have sought the best production outfits to help them come up with the most compelling and entertaining productions. And for those who had no qualms about money, allocation, and budget costs, music video production can easily mean a multi-million dollar endeavour.

Here are the 10 most expensive music videos ever:

#10 What’s It Gonna Be? by Busta Rhymes

Production Costs: $2.4 million

Produced in 1999 by Hype Williams, the music video for ‘What’s It Gonna Be?’ by Busta Rhymes required $2.4 million to complete. Judging by the video’s budget, the overall costs would have been $3.9 million by today’s standards. Janet Jackson did not come cheap, but most of the money went to computer-generated transformations. In the video Busta Rhymes and Ms. Jackson morphed several times. The glass costume, worn by Rhymes, was reported to be worth $40,000 alone.