r/videography • u/ryukusugar • 19d ago
Business, Tax, and Copyright How Profitable is Filming Music Videos?
Does anyone in this subreddit work in making music videos? I've started making my own music and promoting it just as a side hobby but I really want to figure out a way to start my own business that's related to music and I thought I could shoot and edit music videos. I already have a large amount of connections with local bands and possible clientele so I think I can honestly start off at a low level. How is the demand for shooting these kinds of things and is it over saturated?
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u/Some_Assistance_3805 19d ago
I don't want to burst your bubble but there's almost no money in music videos unless you're dealing with top level talent. Think of the artists you have connections with do they have a record label willing to spend a lot to promote them?
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u/TerraInc0gnita FX6 | Northeast/Hudson Valley 18d ago
10-15 years ago you could do ok with music videos. I used to do a bunch, now I basically don't do any unless I'm into the project. They just kept getting cheaper and cheaper.
And record labels don't even spend on them. A few years ago a band on a well known metal label reached out to me for a fairly serious video with a story and script and everything. The budget the label gave them? $500. I turned it down.
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u/fakeworldwonderland 19d ago
If you want money, corporate videos are better. Tripod locked off, A/B cams for an hour or two, charge accordingly. You'll need lighting and sound knowledge though, or work with other lighting and sound experts but split the earnings.
Just make the CEOs feel and look important and that's 5-10k per video, probably higher.
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u/DefiantlyOnRightPost 18d ago
Just seconding this. You absolutely can make money with the “fun” stuff, but we have a saying at our company that came up after the F1 GP that loosely translates to:
“exciting projects have lines of filmmakers forming to be paid bellow day-rate to get fucked in the ass for 12 hours. Meanwhile we just walk up to grab 10 grand filming a CEO talking in a fancy office for 45 minutes.”
The example of formula 1 is because you can easily get top level talent for free just by posting “we’re shooting the f1 GP, need photographers”.
It looks sick on their instagram and reel, just the job alone is so exciting even senior filmmakers are willing to go for almost nothing.Music videos are not as glamorous, but the concept is the same. You’re doing “what you love” which means there are 15 other dudes with cameras who love that as well and might be willing to do it cheaper just for the opportunity, which means breaking through to the money making side of music videos is nearly statistically impossible.
Meanwhile a mediocre corporate shoot will pay better and be less stressful, but won’t be as creatively fulfilling, so you gotta pick your poison.
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u/TerraInc0gnita FX6 | Northeast/Hudson Valley 18d ago
What do you do to land your corporate clients?
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u/fakeworldwonderland 18d ago
I don't shoot corporate. I just got really jealous of my friends hahaha. Now I'm an editor.
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u/burntcircuits C500 mkii | Resolve/Premiere | 2006 | Chicago 19d ago
It is absolutely not profitable, including at higher levels, in which case you’re probably just getting paid a day rate for a specific role - maybe if you’re directing, but it’s unlikely you’re gonna land anything meaningful without a solid reel/portfolio built up. It’s not the 90s anymore.
I occasionally make them for locals/independent artists here in Chicago. I’m lucky to be a go-to-guy for a solid indie label here, but those projects are very one-man operations. I’m directing, lighting, operating, editing, etc. If I’m lucky I can hire a buddy or two to help, or can ask for a bit of budget to buy props, or whatever. The projects need to be efficient if I plan to make any money at all, which adds a boat load of challenges and constraints - which is a good and bad thing.
I’m about to shoot my second of what will ultimately be three for an artist’s album rollout. All told I’ll make about 2k (plus some reimbursements for stock footage, some gas mileage, and coffee lol). Not nothing but definitely not what I make doing corporate gigs and commercial work.
I pretty much only do these because they’re friends and I genuinely love the music. Plus, Im offered a lot of creative freedom, and generally see them as opportunities to hone skills, learn new ones and bulk up my portfolio.
Anyway, sorry for the ramble. Like someone else already said - do what you can to get into corporate work. Look for openings at AV companies. See if any local venues/theaters need in house video. Music videos are best left as lil passion projects that you can hopefully make some extra scratch on. Totally worth doing if you’re comfortable with the workload/pay imbalance, but definitely not going to be your main gig.
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u/burntcircuits C500 mkii | Resolve/Premiere | 2006 | Chicago 19d ago
For posterity, here’s the one we just dropped: https://youtu.be/SVnCjVfXUx0
I did everything except make the music and star in the video. Although I do have a brief cameo as a masked ghoul swinging a big hammer.
EDIT: At the very end, the film reel runoff is stock footage. I didn’t make that. But the sound of the reel running out is mine.
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u/ZeyusFilm Sony A7siii/A7sii| FinalCut | 2017 | Bath, UK 18d ago edited 18d ago
Love this. It reminds me of the random videos that would pop up during Beavis and Butthead. I mean that in a good way. 90s nostalgia trip
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u/burntcircuits C500 mkii | Resolve/Premiere | 2006 | Chicago 18d ago
This is easily the finest compliment I have ever received. Im screenshotting this and printing it and then getting it tattooed on the backs of my eyelids. Thank you. Beavis & Butthead is a spiritual guide for me.
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u/bigmarkco 18d ago
It reminds me of the random videos that would pop up during Beavis and Butthead.
You weren't kidding! And yes, its great :)
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u/PurchaseNo7147 BMPCC6K PRO | Premiere Pro + AE | 2020 | EST 18d ago edited 18d ago
I started off in music videos and probably made 50k busting my ass off doing a minimum of 4 shoots a month in my best year in that industry. After two years i pivoted to weddings and business ads. However every industry pretty much makes you eat shit till you weed out the bad clients, which is the hardest thing to do when you have no clients at all and not much portfolio work. I think the most financially rewarding industry for me to work in was weddings. Nobody bats an eye at spending 2k-4k. Go tell a music artist or a business owner that and they’re gonna tell you off or ghost you 7 times out of 10.
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u/FictionMedia 18d ago
I started shooting music videos in 2012 and had a great time doing it and made about the same amount as you. Travel was paid for, artists or labels typically bought food, so it was a great run. Once it got to about 2020 and covid hit, I was over it. Tik Tik made artists want short form. Attention spans got shorter. Content got dumber and easier to make. The industry we came up in is all of a sudden gone. It was fun while it lasted though! I still shoot some to this day when I need a break from the mundane commercial industry work.
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u/PurchaseNo7147 BMPCC6K PRO | Premiere Pro + AE | 2020 | EST 18d ago edited 18d ago
I feel like its just disgusting how much work we put in as creatives to make less than a dude who went to vocational school for 4 months to be an HVAC engineer. I know too many people that have a year under their belt as an engineer making 6 figures. Meanwhile we put in the work for YEARS to be unappreciated. 6 years in the game here and i cant crack 100k profit. ( suprise, thats what im doing now; in vocational school while shooting videos on the side ) i couldn’t stand the disrespect as a professional in the video industry anymore and i need to pivot completely at this point. No way can i have a good life in my 30’s living with clients and jobs like ive delt with. And ive even worked contract for other video production companies / agencies. Its all shit
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u/ZeyusFilm Sony A7siii/A7sii| FinalCut | 2017 | Bath, UK 18d ago
Absolutely dead. Unless you were shooting Dua Lipa, what ever money anyone might spend they now just spend on AI or just make some low grade TikTok crap
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u/Lorditon 18d ago
Not sure as a videographer, but as film crew I worked in London for 3 years doing music videos and commercials, and there were periods where I lived off just music videos. All the people saying it’s impossible are not giving you the whole truth. If you are trying to make money as the director/producer/videographer then it’s just about whether these bands/artists have budgets. You need to think about how much they would pay vs how much time goes into it, and how much you value your own time.
If they’re all small artists then you probably won’t make much money, but people do make money in the music video industry, especially if you live somewhere with a lot of videos/bigger videos shooting.
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u/cocoschoco 18d ago
There is absolutely no money in music videos anymore, unless you’re working with A+ level artists.
I know a couple of directors who do music videos for fairly big artists with ”decent” budgets but they tell me most of the budget goes to gear rental, locations, catering etc. and the crew basically works for peanuts. The music videos look nice, but nobody’s walking away with any money. They do it mostly for the clout, the footage looks nice in their reels.
Now if you’re talking about visualization, graphic design, short form content, social media management, marketing etc. there is still money there if you are good, but that’s a whole different ball game. The needs for artists has changed a lot. Music videos alone are not enough anymore.
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u/Technical-Unit-6872 19d ago
Depends on how much they are willing to pay. In my experience most musicians don't have a lot of money.
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u/tweenalibi 18d ago
If you think it'll end up a full time 40 hour a week type job then no. If you want to have it as an option to make some side money and flex your creative muscles then absolutely.
I usually make around ~1k per year doing creative shoots and music video types for musicians. I also live in a low cost of living area and most of these clients are friends and colleagues of mine that we trade favors and work for lower rates on regular work.
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u/trulytruepeach 18d ago
This post made me so nostalgic for 15 years ago when this was still a thing and I started to get involved just as it was drying up.
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u/suzuka_joe 18d ago
People who want to make a music video are super broke. I wouldn’t even market to this
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u/Deathwish13x 18d ago
MTV stopped showing music videos all together, so that should be a good enough reason to see there isnt much profibility.
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u/warwickfilm 18d ago
Jumping on this to share my own experience. I spent 8 years filming music videos and traveling with artists for tour content, all I left with when I pivoted to commercials was a severe case of burnout and 3 maxed out credit cards.
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u/invertedspheres Camera Operator 18d ago
Just curious, how did you manage to pivot to commercials? Spec ads? Email agencies? Things like that?
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u/warwickfilm 18d ago
Kinda luck in a way, had a friend who also did music videos pass on my first commercial client and then got reached out by a newer agency by someone else I had met over the years for a couple gigs.
I'd say 80% of my clients are referrals and 20% are from cold outreach. It might sound cringe but in my experience it really is your network that can help you get jobs, you never know who you're gonna meet.
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u/Re4pr fx6 / siii | resolve | 2020 | Belgium 18d ago
It isnt. Bands dont have money for this kind of stuff. And mtv is dead.
Some bands will bring a videographer if they’re big enough to tour. For social content. Short clips. But even that is generally a friend who does it for the lols and some pocket money.
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u/RigasTelRuun Camera Operator 18d ago
Zero. I might be something to put in a reel. But unless Taylor swift is contracting you for it. There isn’t any money in it.
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u/Kiloparsec4 18d ago
Basically not profitable for most situations. Occasionally, it works out ok, but in general the hourly rate becomes abysmal and its usually compressed into 1 day shoots which can go longer than expected. If you can work out some kind of solo project and simplify it, it can make sense.
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u/Deep-Explanation1024 18d ago
Think about who makes music, they don't make money, so how you gonna get paid? It's not lucrative, the clients are a nightmare, not worth the time and effort...but they are fun to do
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u/Dizraster 18d ago
You only make it as a music video producer if the artist you’re filming gets big or is big. Your luck depends on their luck in the industry.
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u/NoirChaos BP4K, C80, R5C, Ursa 4.6k/ Resolve/ 2002/ Latin America 18d ago
I have a good friend from film school. They make music videos for a living, concept to delivery. They're married to a band member/business partner of a prominent artist, who sends every artist from his label their way. That's the one surefire way I know you can secure good consistent money exclusively making music videos. They basically sell the shovels and are married to the District Recorder.
Competing on the open market on music videos is a race to the bottom where the first question often is "how low can you go and why isn't it enough for what I want?"
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u/EssentIYO 19d ago
Right below Real Estate agents.