Music · 2
When MTV launched on August 1, 1981, approximately how much did the average music video cost to produce, making Duran Duran's later $1 million budget so shocking by comparison?
Answer
Around $20,000–$25,000
In MTV's early days, most music videos were made for roughly $20,000–$25,000, often shot quickly on simple sets or performance stages. Duran Duran's decision to spend close to $1 million on 'Hungry Like the Wolf' in 1982 was nearly 50 times the industry norm and fundamentally shifted how record labels thought about video production as a marketing investment.
💡 Did you know?
Duran Duran's elaborate 'Hungry Like the Wolf' video cost $1 million in 1982—nearly 50 times what most bands spent—and changed how artists viewed video budgets forever.
Other options people guess
- Around $100,000–$150,000
- Around $5,000–$8,000
- Around $300,000–$400,000
Topics
- 1980s
- mtv
- music-video
- production-budget
- new-wave
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