There’s plenty of money involved when it comes to the music industry and ever since the launch of MTV, bands and artists have focused on creating amazing music videos to boost the sale of the albums. Quite interestingly, the list of the world’s most expensive music videos is controlled by the King and Queen of Pop – Michael Jackson and Madonna.

Michael and Janet Jackson – Scream – Original Cost £4.6 million

It’s no surprise that Michael Jackson holds the spot for the most expensive music video of all time, as the King of Pop was the first to truly revolutionise video making. This collaboration with his sister Janet was set in a spaceship and a staggering 64 million people saw it on its premier on ABC’s Primetime Live.

Madonna – Die Another Day – Original Cost £4 million

Music videos for songs from the Bond franchise are always quite a big spectacle and when Madonna made the song for the Die Another Day movie, it ended up becoming one of the most expensive videos of all time. The video had plenty of action and references to past Bond movies.

Madonna – Express Yourself – Original Cost £3.3 million

At the time of filming, the video for Express Yourself was the most expensive video ever and it was inspired by the famous film Metropolis and directed by the great David Fincher. The video is typical Madonna, artistic and sexual.

Madonna – Bedtime Story – Original Cost £3.3 million

Surprise, surprise, the next song on the list is yet another Madonna video. The video featured at movie theatres across New York City, Santa Monica and Chicago, and its even part of a permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The video itself is once again a typical Madonna video with plenty of artistic poses and sexy shots.

Michael Jackson – Black or White – Original Cost £2.6 million

Michael Jackson makes another appearance on the list with the video for the lead single from his Dangerous album. The video is a big, epic journey around the world and the original video lasts an impressive 11-minutes. It premiered on a number of music channels simultaneously, with an estimated 500 million people tuning in.

Guns ‘n’ Roses – Estranged – Original Cost £2.6 million

The first band on the list is the famous rock ‘n’ roll group, Guns ‘n’ Roses. The video is the last instalment in their video trilogy, with the previous two videos made for the hit songs Don’t Cry and November Rain. Estranged is a typical rock ‘n’ roll video, with plenty of zooming during guitar riffs and the original video lasted for an impressive 9 minutes.

Aqua – Cartoon Heroes – Original Cost £2.3 million

Perhaps the most surprising entry on the list is by the Danish pop group Aqua. The band is most famous for the pop tune Barbie Girl, which, depending on your taste, is either a lovely song or an irritating earworm. Nevertheless, their song Cartoon Heroes was an impressive video with a costly production.

Music video heydays took place in the 80s and 90s and although there are many impressive and costly-looking videos these days as well, the production costs have come down quite a bit. The rise of Youtube stars has shown that you don’t need more than a computer, some guitar skills and a basic video editing program and you can upload your own, impressive music videos for the world to see! Therefore, it’s very likely that Jackson and Madonna will hold on to their top spots for a long time to come.