Music video budget
Typical music-video budget structure by category — enter a sum and get a breakdown
Breakdown
Pre-production
$750 (15%)Director's treatment, storyboard, locations, casting, permits — ~10–20% of budget. Saving here usually means chaos on set.
Crew
$1,750 (35%)Director, DP, gaffer, art director, stylist/MUA, assistants — people are 30–40% of budget.
Equipment
$1,000 (20%)Camera+lenses, lighting, sliders/gimbal/drone, monitors — rental 15–25%. A cheap camera with good lighting looks better than an expensive one without.
Locations & props
$750 (15%)Location rental, props, sets, costumes — 10–20%. Permits for public-space shooting.
Post-production
$1,000 (20%)Editing, color grading, graphics/VFX, titles — 15–25%. VFX is the most expensive line and scales sharply with complexity.
Logistics & contingency
$500 (10%)Transport, catering, insurance — 5–10%. A 10% contingency for reshoots/delays — always.
Anchors: indie video $500–3000, mid $3–15k, professional $15–100k+. The share structure is typical for a mid video; DIY shoots shift everything toward post and locations.