Music videos generally go through three stages of production: pre-production, production, and post-production. In pre-production, an artist chooses a production company and storyboards the video. Production involves hiring crew to film the video over multiple takes. Post-production is when the footage is edited together and special effects are added to create the final video. Music videos are made to profit from sales and promotions, but also to showcase an artist's talent. Famous directors like David Fincher are sought after because their high production value videos often lead to chart success. Budgets for music videos can range from just a few thousand dollars for low-budget videos to over $1 million for major artist productions.

1. Research into the
music industry

2. How are music videos generally made?
Pre-production
The first stage is to choose a production company who the
artist will think is suitable, so preferably someone who has
produced songs within the same genre. They have to
choose a well known production company in order to
produce good work to draw attention to their target
audience. Meaning they have to hire the camera crew,
building/premises.
Within this stage, a story board is made for the whole plan
of the song, this is then passed around and within several
months, filming should be starting to take place.

3. Production
More crew are needed to be hired to help with the
production of the video, then when it is all passed
filming then takes place.
Hundreds of takes will be taken so that they can get
more footage and edit it to create the video. Stills will
also be taken if it is necessary. If this goes wrong, then
the whole footage will need to be taken again which
results in a lot of money being wasted.

4. Post Production
This is the final stage where the video is put together
and edited. If animation is needed then it will be put in
at this stage of production so there will be a completely
different crew specialize in this department of
production.
The final video will then be duplicated hundreds of
times for distribution and also used for advertising the
video. Stills will also be used at this stage for digi packs
and posters.

5. What is the purpose of a music video for the
companies / artists that make them?
The main reason for music videos is to make a profit,
other reasons may be things like:
• Enjoyment
• Passion
• Showing off talent
• Working with different artists
• Popular with the public, them listening to their
creation

6. Who are some famous music video directors and
why are their videos so well-known / successful?
David Fincher – Michael Jackson ‘Who is it?’
Rolling Stones ‘Love is strong’
These songs are made so popular because of the large
budget as they wouldn’t of been able to afford a well
known director who will help with these music videos
because then there is a chance of the song getting into
the charts.

7. How much money is usually spent on the
average music video?
Actual costs based on specific local vendors:
• Producer fee: $500-1250/day
• Director fee: $500-1250/day
• Camera operator: $500-1000/day
• Camera equipment rental: $150-$5000/day
• Key grip, assistant, lighting gear: $1000-1750/day
• Wardrobe for 7-10 characters: estimated $20-
$200/day per character
• City permits: $25-$1000/day (depending on the city,
exact location, whether roads need to be closed,
etc…)
• Props/furniture rental: estimated $500
• Set construction: $100-1000
Costs not included above:
•Band member compensation
•Additional actors and extras
•Marketing hours
•Catering (food) for 4 days
•Donor perks:
•T-shirts
•Buttons
•Web hosting
•Graphic design
•Shipping
Examples of music video budgets:
•Macklemore “Wings”: $18,269 (2011)
•Michael Jackson “Beat It”: $150,000 (1983)
•Average studio music video budget: $200,000 – $500,000 (2010)

8. Are any music videos made cheaply or have had
huge budgets?
Green day – American Idiot was an extremely basic
video which was cheaply made because of it’s set
location throughout the whole video.
Britney Spears – Toxic on the other hand was a high
budget of $1,000,000 for production costs.
Another example is Michael Jacksons Black or White
with production costs of $4,000,000.

9. How do audiences access music
videos?
The internet
The internet has many different websites
which are easily accessed however this
can lead to piracy because there are so
many illegal sites which you can download
tracks off.
Youtube
Youtube consists of thousands of different
videos including brand new releases, this
website is easily accessible and therefore has
an extremely wide range of users. Youtube is
also cheap for record labels for promotional
purposes.
TV and Radio
These are channels like MTV and VIVA
which shows the official UK top 40.
These are easily accessed by all
television companies so even people
on freeview can access it.
iTunes
Anyone with an iTunes account
can access any official video
which has been released and is
easy to navigate to find which
song you want to watch or
download.
Festivals and Gigs
These are more specific for what you
want to watch in the sense that you
buy tickets to see who you want,
although it is cost worthy it is a good
way for audiences to see live acts.
Music Stores
Music stores consist of all
different genres of music
tracks, whether they are
albums or single tracks. These
can be where you listen to just
the track or you can watch the
video.