Music Video pricing

reem12

reem12

Veteran
I've just started getting a decent amount of work doing music videos. I am trying to get an average pricing range for someone who has not been doing it for a long time. any replies would be greatly appreciated.
 
2k for basic? I'm supposed to be shooting one this week for 1500, it's only my 2nd so i went low to the work. How much u getting>?
 
What are you considering basic? performance only video? I wouldnt take a gig if they couldnt do atleast 2k + production expenses, and even then I would still have to work out the hourly breakdown to see if its worth it. Its a tough niche, lots of artists, few w/ budget, and most dont want to spend more then the bare minimum unless they have some huge scale production concept.
 
theres a company in L.A. called Arc Music Factory i believe, they did the Rebecca Black video Friday and a bunch of other's. They produce, record, write shoot and edit for 2k. I'm not a fan of the music by any means but the prod value for 2k is crazy, no wonder everyone in LA is working for less and less.
 
Friday was $2000, but it can go as high as $4000. [Link]

Considering that Ark Music Factory retains the publishing rights to the song, they made bank on that.
 
i'm very passionate about music videos. $2k totally blows and is unfair.
I will say that ark gave her a pretty good video in that package of $2k/$4k considering they wrote the song - but that's not what most people are doing.

A lot of people just get a video of some people standing in front of a green screen to drab backgrounds for $2k - personally thats not really worth doing for me as a director and usually, unless there is some twist, it isnt worth doing for the artist either.

If you cook up something amazing and inventive and expressive for $2k then rock out - i'd would too if I like the song - otherwise - $2k is a lot of work for any video worthwhile putting on your reel.
 
Frankly, you either have to do quantity or have some A-listers in your cadre to make anything that you can actually live on. That's really the only two sides to the music video coin that I have seen.
 
diversified directing.
i think its poor sportsmanship to say $2k ruins in the industry - its always about doing cheaper better faster.
The real reality has to do more with the change in how much money music makes and it's effect on budgets.
I do think though that flat videos wont get your career going - just taking up hard drive space.
 
I'm not sure which I'm having a harder time understanding:

That Friday had 160 million views before it was taken down (by Black and Ark)
There are dozens of parodies of Friday with multi-million views
That Ark does it all for $2000-$4000 (Wiki says $4k in the case of Friday, LA Times says $2K)

I'd never heard of Ark before this thread.
From the LA Times article:

It's just this sort of dreamy-eyed conviction that inspired the founding, in 2010, and fuels the day-to-day function of Ark Music Factory. A vanity label of sorts, Ark auditions young talent, many of whom approach the company through their parents.

For a fee, usually between $2,000 and $4,000, hopeful celebs-in-the-making are given a song to record as well as time with a producer-engineer (Wilson's partner in Ark, Clarence Jey), a photo shoot, image consulting, a music video and promotion.

The singer owns the rights to the master recording, and Ark owns the publishing rights to the song. Considering that low-end costs for major label music videos start around $10,000 or $15,000, Wilson's fees are a bargain.
Click to expand...

From Wiki:
Following her split from ARK Music Factory after a dispute on the ownership and distribution of "Friday", Rebecca Black established her own independent record label RB Records.
Click to expand...
I guess things didn't work out with Ark after all.
 
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I've started out with friends who are working on albums, So after travel expenses, food etc., I would say I've broke even. I think they are well shot and directed so I will put them on my reel and now begin to charge more for the work. It is very time consuming and tedious work. I also half to be into the song before I will do it cause if I don't It will be like editing someones drab wedding video.
 
do it for free!

but really,
$2.5k-$5k is the standard going rate right now for a basic DSLR shot music vid.. I'ts not as low-income as you think since they can be produced fast. you can safely charge lower if you have your own equipment and higher if you have production expenses.
 
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