How Much Does a Music Video Cost in 2026?
A filmed music video usually costs from about $5,000 to well over $500,000, because you pay for crew days, locations and gear. An animated music video is priced by length instead. At Arigato Studio it costs $5 to $20 per second of finished animation, so a 3 minute song comes to $900, $1,800 or $3,600.
Below you will find the full price table by song length, what each package includes, where the money goes in a filmed shoot and how to decide between the two.
Music video costs at a glance
| Type of music video | Typical cost | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Simple filmed performance video (UK) | starts at £2,000 to £5,000 | We Stream, citing Media Village’s 2026 guide |
| Low budget professional filmed video (US) | up to $15,000 | Dixie Dixon |
| Mid budget filmed video | $15,001 to $100,000 and more | Dixie Dixon |
| High budget filmed video | over $100,000 | Dixie Dixon |
| Animated music video at Arigato Studio | $5 to $20 per second: $900 to $3,600 for 3 minutes | our published prices |
At the very top, the most expensive music videos ever made cost millions. Wikipedia’s list is led by Michael and Janet Jackson’s “Scream” (1995), reported at $7 million.
What an animated music video costs by song length
We price per second of finished video, with a 30 second minimum, so the length of your song sets the price before any work starts.
| Song length | Starter ($5 per second) | Advanced ($10 per second) | Premium ($20 per second) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 seconds | $150 | $300 | $600 |
| 1 minute | $300 | $600 | $1,200 |
| 2 minutes | $600 | $1,200 | $2,400 |
| 2:30 | $750 | $1,500 | $3,000 |
| 3 minutes | $900 | $1,800 | $3,600 |
| 3:30 | $1,050 | $2,100 | $4,200 |
| 4 minutes | $1,200 | $2,400 | $4,800 |
To price your own track, multiply its length in seconds by the package rate. A 3:22 song is 202 seconds: $1,010 on Starter, $2,020 on Advanced or $4,040 on Premium.
What each package includes
| Starter | Advanced | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $5 per second | $10 per second | $20 per second |
| Look | clean backgrounds | custom illustrations | premium illustration and rich worlds |
| Characters | simple character animation | characters that tell your story | character acting |
| Revision rounds | 1 per stage | 2 per stage | 3 per stage |
| Source files | no | no | yes |
| Delivery for 30 seconds | from 7 days | from 7 days | from 14 days |
All three packages follow the same three stages, and each one waits for your approval before the next begins:
- Storyboard. We sketch every scene against the music, so the story follows the song the way you hear it.
- Illustration. We turn the approved storyboard into custom illustrations: characters, backgrounds and lyrics in the style of your song.
- Animation. We animate the approved designs to the music and deliver the finished video.
Three looks from our music video work:
A lyric video for Chez Lim: the words move with the song around a layered heart under hanging stars.
“Do You Like Broccoli Ice Cream”, one of six kids songs we animated for Golden Carrot: big sing-along lyrics and food characters.
North Pole party: Santa and an elf dance through the workshop.
Where the money goes: filmed vs animated
Filmed. Most of the budget goes on people and days. We Stream lists typical UK rates of £500 to £5,000 a day for a director, £450 to £2,500 a day for a director of photography and £400 to £800 a day for editing and post-production. Locations, cast, gear and travel come on top, and every extra shoot day adds to the crew bill.
Animated. You pay for seconds of finished animation. There are no shoot days, so there is no crew, location, weather or travel to budget for, and nobody has to stand in front of a camera. The price covers the storyboard, the illustrations and the animation, with the revision rounds of your package.
Animated or filmed: which one fits your song?
| Filmed music video | Animated music video | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay for | crew days, locations, gear and editing | seconds of finished animation |
| Price set by | the shoot plan | song length times the package rate |
| Artist on camera | usually | optional: you can appear as a character, or not at all |
| Limits | what you can film or build | what can be drawn |
| Your time | shoot days with everyone in one place | approvals online at each stage |
| Best for | performance, dance, the artist’s face as the brand | stories, kids and learning songs, lyric videos, worlds you can’t film |
Choose filmed when your fans come for you: your face, your band on stage, your choreography. Choose animation when the song has a story or a world in it, when you would rather not be on camera, or when the video you imagine would cost far more to film than to draw.
Not sure which style fits your song? See the types of music videos, with animated examples.
What changes the price of an animated music video
- Length. The biggest factor. A 2 minute edit costs a third less than a 3 minute album version.
- Level of detail. Clean backgrounds and simple character animation (Starter) cost less than custom illustrations with characters that carry a story (Advanced), or rich worlds and character acting (Premium).
- Changes after approval. The approved storyboard is the base of the video. Small tweaks are fine, but changing the story after approval affects illustration and animation, so we quote it as a scope change before doing it.
- Source files. Included in Premium, for artists and labels who want to edit the video later.
How to keep an animated music video on budget
- Animate a video edit of the song. Every second you cut lowers the price.
- Start with a lyric video. Lyric videos fit our Starter package at $5 per second.
- Build on your cover art. If the single already has artwork, the video can grow from it, so the look starts from something you already love.
- Lock the story at the storyboard. Changes cost least before illustration starts. See how an animated music video is made for what happens at each stage.
How long does an animated music video take?
Delivery starts at 7 days for 30 seconds on Starter and Advanced, and 14 days on Premium. A full song takes longer, and every stage waits for your approval, so we agree on a schedule before we start. If you have a release date, tell us when you get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a 3 minute animated music video cost?
$900 on Starter, $1,800 on Advanced and $3,600 on Premium. Every package is priced per second, so a longer or shorter song changes the total in proportion.
How much does a lyric video cost?
A lyric video fits our Starter package at $5 per second, so a 3 minute lyric video is $900. The words move with the rhythm, over illustrations in the style of your song or your artwork.
Is an animated music video cheaper than filming one?
For most independent releases, yes. A 3 minute song costs $900 on Starter and $1,800 on Advanced, below the £2,000 to £5,000 that We Stream gives as the starting point for a simple performance video in the UK. Premium ($3,600) sits inside that range, with illustrated worlds and character acting that would need sets, cast and effects to film.
Why is animation priced per second?
Every second is drawn and animated, so the length of the song is the clearest measure of the work. It also means you know the price before we start.
Do I need the rights to the song?
Yes. You need to own the song or have the rights to use it in a video. We animate to your track and do not license music for you.
Can you make music videos for kids channels?
Yes: children’s songs, nursery rhymes and learning songs, with characters and colors designed for young audiences. Our work includes six songs for Golden Carrot and a grammar song series for Norm Birds.
Get your song animated
Send us your song, the lyrics and the story you imagine. We reply with the price for your song’s exact length and a schedule.
- Starter, $5 per second: clean backgrounds, simple character animation, lyric videos welcome, 1 revision round per stage.
- Advanced, $10 per second: custom illustrations and characters that tell your story, 2 revision rounds per stage.
- Premium, $20 per second: rich worlds, character acting and source files, 3 revision rounds per stage.
See our animated music video services, compare all our prices or ask us about your song. We are rated 4.9 from 1,776 reviews on Fiverr, and as one music client wrote there: “Professional, creative, talented and communicative every step of the way.”
Next step: Animated music videos: packages and samples · All prices
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