When an artist approaches us and asks how much a music video should be, the better question to answer is how big is your budget. The good news is that artists still see the value in creating music videos and the even better news is that music video production costs have fallen drastically since their peak in the 1980’s, but the reality is that music video production does still require resources and those resources still cost.
Although MTV and VH1 are no longer the main driving factors influencing lyrical artists to create visual content for their lyrics, the rise of YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion, Facebook, Instagram, and a myriad of other social media digital video platforms are driving artists to continue to see the value in promoting their unique brand of talent in the form of music videos.
Music video production costs can easily range from $20,000 – $1M or more, but the typical budget is far below that. Many artists are able to produce quality music videos in the $2,000 – $20,000 range.
Budget directly affects the end result. At the lower end of the range, the video will probably be a single location, outdoors or indoors at a venue that is not a professional studio or built set, will probably be a single cameraman, no special effects, no fancy props, etc.
At the higher end of this range the video could include professional models, professional dancers, multiple locations, aerial drone video, makeup artists, hairstylists, lighting and equipment assistants.
Typically artists already have a general idea of the type of visuals that they want in their music video but some are willing to leave it to the production studio to write the script, direct the filming, and develop the concept.
The extent of development as well as the number of support staff working on the development will once again depend upon the all important budget.
The venue can make or break a music video. If you want an exotic look or even many different looks, the venues can quickly affect the remaining budget. Few venues are free, and even the free ones typically require insurance, generators, lighting, rental equipment, construction, and cleanup. All of this costs money and will need an adequate budget to ensure completion.
The good news is that in 2019 professional grade equipment is cheaper than ever. It is possible to film and light music video sets in ways that simply were not possible before for a fraction of the cost. However, there is still a noticeable difference between the Hollywood grade equipment and budget constrained video shoots.
The budget will definitely affect the final quality of the footage simply because it is unrealistic to expect a music video with a budget of $3,000 to be filmed on a Red Epic ($60,000.00) camera.
Editing is one of the great hidden costs of pretty much any creative production. Editing can quickly become more costly than all of the other costs combined.
At VUMEDIA Group we use the latest camera equipment that makes sense for our target customer. We work with music video customers to make every attempt to produce a quality music video that fits your budget.
If you want to learn more about how we can help you can read more about our music video production process here:
