Music Video Budget Template: Line Items at $5k, $25k, $75k

Free music video budget template with a full budget breakdown by section and example line items at three tiers: $5,000, $25,000 and $75,000. Copy it.

By the CreativeBase team · Updated October 21, 2026 · 7 min read

This music video budget template lists every cost by section, then adds a production fee and a contingency on top of the subtotal. It comes with fictional example numbers at three tiers, about $5,000, $25,000 and $75,000, so you can watch the same budget grow as the concept does.

In short:

Ten sections, A to J: pre-production, director, crew, talent, camera, art, locations, transport and catering, post, insurance.

Price every line as quantity × rate × days, then add a production fee (0 to 15% here) and 10% contingency.

Crew is the biggest line at every size. Art is where a bigger budget shows on screen.

These are examples, not quotes. Rates move by city, union status and how much kit each person brings. Keep the structure and replace every number with your crew's real rates. The thinking behind the numbers is in our guide on how to budget a music video.

The three example productions

	Tier 1 (~$5k)	Tier 2 (~$25k)	Tier 3 (~$75k)
Concept	Performance video, one location	Performance plus a story, two locations	Choreographed video on a built set
Shoot days	1	1	1, plus a prelight day
Crew on the day	Director, DP, gaffer, HMU, 1 PA	About 12	About 22
Talent	The artist	Artist, 2 featured actors, extras	Artist, featured talent, 6 dancers, extras
Location	A friend's bar, small fee	Rented house and a street exterior	Sound stage
Post	Editor and a light grade	Editor, colorist, simple graphics	Editor, colorist, VFX cleanup and titles
Production fee	None (director produces)	10%	15%

All three are sized to sit inside the cost ranges music video producers publish, for example Blare Video's tiers of $2,000 to $5,000, $5,000 to $30,000, and $50,000 and up.

Top sheet: totals by section

Section	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3
A. Pre-production	0	$1,400	$4,100
B. Director	$800	$3,000	$7,000
C. Shoot crew	$1,625	$6,050	$16,550
D. Talent	0	$900	$3,600
E. Camera, lighting and grip	$650	$2,700	$6,700
F. Art department and wardrobe	$225	$1,400	$6,900
G. Locations and stage	$200	$1,200	$4,000
H. Transport and catering	$200	$950	$2,300
I. Post-production	$650	$2,500	$7,200
J. Insurance and admin	$200	$750	$1,650
Subtotal	$4,550	$20,850	$60,000
Production fee (0% / 10% / 15%)	0	$2,085	$9,000
Contingency (10%)	$455	$2,085	$6,000
Total	$5,005	$25,020	$75,000

The production fee is the production company's margin for running the job, carrying the risk and fronting costs. Contingency is for the day's surprises, like the rain cover nobody planned.

Music video budget breakdown, line by line

The Basis column says how each line is calculated. In a spreadsheet, give each line three cells (quantity, rate, multiplier) and let the total be the product. A "0" means that tier skips the line. Keep it in your template anyway, so you decide to skip it rather than forget it.

A. Pre-production

Line	Basis	Tier 2 (~$25k)	Tier 3 (~$75k)
Producer prep	days × rate	$800	$2,500
Location scout and tech scout	days × rate	$300	$600
Casting (talent, dancers)	flat	$300	$1,000
Section total		$1,400	$4,100

B. Director

Line	Basis	Tier 1 (~$5k)	Tier 2 (~$25k)	Tier 3 (~$75k)
Director fee (treatment to final cut)	flat	$800	$3,000	$7,000
Section total		$800	$3,000	$7,000

C. Shoot crew

Line	Basis	Tier 1 (~$5k)	Tier 2 (~$25k)	Tier 3 (~$75k)
Producer on the day	days × rate	0	$500	$900
1st assistant director	days × rate	0	$500	$800
Director of photography	days × rate	$700	$1,200	$1,800
1st camera assistant	days × rate	0	$450	$650
Gaffer	days × rate	$400	$600	$1,200
Key grip	days × rate	0	0	$1,100
Grip and electric swings	people × days × rate	0	$400	$1,600
Production designer / art director	days × rate	0	$600	$2,200
Wardrobe stylist	days × rate	0	$500	$1,200
Hair and makeup	days × rate	$275	$500	$900
Production assistants	people × days × rate	$250	$500	$1,200
Playback operator	days × rate	0	0	$500
Choreographer	flat	0	0	$1,500
Overtime allowance	hours × rate	0	$300	$1,000
Section total		$1,625	$6,050	$16,550

D. Talent

Line	Basis	Tier 2 (~$25k)	Tier 3 (~$75k)
Featured talent / actors	people × days × rate	$600	$1,200
Dancers	people × days × rate	0	$1,800
Extras	people × rate	$300	$600
Section total		$900	$3,600

E. Camera, lighting and grip

Line	Basis	Tier 1 (~$5k)	Tier 2 (~$25k)	Tier 3 (~$75k)
Camera package with lenses	days × rate	$300	$900	$1,800
Lighting and grip package	days × rate	$300	$1,200	$3,000
Specialty (gimbal, drone with operator, crane)	days × rate	0	$400	$1,500
Expendables (tape, gels, batteries, media)	flat	$50	$200	$400
Section total		$650	$2,700	$6,700

F. Art department and wardrobe

Line	Basis	Tier 1 (~$5k)	Tier 2 (~$25k)	Tier 3 (~$75k)
Set build and dressing	flat	0	$600	$3,800
Props	flat	$75	$300	$1,000
Wardrobe purchases and rentals	flat	$100	$400	$1,800
HMU kit fee	days × rate	$50	$100	$300
Section total		$225	$1,400	$6,900

G. Locations and stage

Line	Basis	Tier 1 (~$5k)	Tier 2 (~$25k)	Tier 3 (~$75k)
Location fee	days × rate	$200	$1,000	0
Stage rental (shoot plus prelight)	days × rate	0	0	$4,000
Permits	flat	0	$200	0
Section total		$200	$1,200	$4,000

H. Transport and catering

Line	Basis	Tier 1 (~$5k)	Tier 2 (~$25k)	Tier 3 (~$75k)
Vehicles, grip van, fuel	days × rate	$50	$250	$800
Catering and craft services	people × meals	$150	$600	$1,200
Parking	flat	0	$100	$300
Section total		$200	$950	$2,300

I. Post-production

Line	Basis	Tier 1 (~$5k)	Tier 2 (~$25k)	Tier 3 (~$75k)
Editor	days × rate	$450	$1,500	$3,000
Colorist	hours × rate	$200	$600	$1,500
VFX and graphics	flat	0	$300	$2,200
Conform, mastering and deliverables	flat	0	$100	$500
Section total		$650	$2,500	$7,200

J. Insurance and admin

Line	Basis	Tier 1 (~$5k)	Tier 2 (~$25k)	Tier 3 (~$75k)
Production insurance (liability, equipment)	flat	$200	$600	$1,400
Admin, payroll service, bank fees	flat	0	$150	$250
Section total		$200	$750	$1,650

How the money shifts as the budget grows

Section	Tier 1 share	Tier 2 share	Tier 3 share
Director	16%	12%	9%
Shoot crew	32%	24%	22%
Camera, lighting and grip	13%	11%	9%
Art department, wardrobe, locations and stage	8%	10%	15%
Talent	0%	4%	5%
Post-production	13%	10%	10%
Production fee and contingency	9%	17%	20%

Shares are of each tier's total. Three patterns hold in most real budgets:

Crew is the biggest line at every size. It only shrinks as a share because art, talent and the fee grow.
Art is where the money shows on screen. Set, props and wardrobe go from $225 to $6,900 across the examples, a far bigger jump than camera.
Post holds near 10 percent. A video shot well and graded badly still looks cheap.

How to fill in the template

Write the concept in one line first. Locations, days, talent and set build all fall out of it.
Price crew as days × rate. Tier 2 day rates sit inside published ranges, for example $500 to $1,250 a day for a director and $1,000 to $1,800 for a DP (Blare Video). Tier 1 assumes deal rates crews give for a strong concept or a repeat client.
Put kit fees on their own line in section E, not inside a day rate, so actuals compare cleanly.
Budget overtime even if you hope not to use it. Music video days run long, and a 12-hour day on a 10-hour rate turns into overtime fast.
Price insurance in pre-production. Locations and rental houses often want a certificate of insurance before they release a space or kit.
Add the fee and contingency last. Commercial budgets often carry a 20 to 35 percent markup (Saturation); music videos are often lower or fold it into the director's fee. Contingency is 10 percent here, inside the 10 to 15 percent most producers advise.

What every music video budget needs

A one-line concept and the number of shoot days
A top sheet with totals by section
Every line as quantity × rate × days
Kit on its own lines, apart from labor
An overtime allowance
Post at roughly 10 percent or more
Insurance and admin
Production fee and contingency below the subtotal
An actual column beside the estimate

Common mistakes

Cutting post to pay for the shoot day
No overtime line, then a 14-hour day
Kit buried inside the DP's day rate
Contingency spent on the artist's new idea instead of a change order
Lunch past six hours on a union job, which means meal penalties (Storiara)
Payroll crew budgeted as if they were invoicing freelancers: add the service fee and fringes to section J

Make it in CreativeBase

A spreadsheet started fresh for every video tells you what this one costs. A budget that becomes the quote, the change orders and the invoice tells you what you made and what to charge next time. That is the job of one system.

Start from a template or your own file. An AICP-style music video template (sections A to T) is built in, or import your spreadsheet (.xlsx, .xls or .csv), map its columns and share it with your company.
Six views of the money. Topsheet, Production budget, Actuals, Change orders, Client quote and Crew costs, with net profit and margin as you go.
Rates you already paid. The Directory keeps each crew member's last rate, and the Crew tab shows priced roles nobody holds yet.
The artist or label approves from a link. The quote comes from the budget. They approve it, and later a second location as a change order, on a link or in the client portal.
Reports. A cost report projects the final cost and margin; a wrap report puts the estimate against the final.

What it does not do: no payroll, fringes or union rules, and clients do not pay through CreativeBase. It tracks money; it does not move it. Accounts start with a short call where pricing is set, and your first production can be a free trial.

Questions people ask

How much does a music video cost?

A simple one-location video usually lands around $2,000 to $5,000, a mid-range video with a fuller crew and several locations around $5,000 to $30,000, and label or commercial-level videos from about $50,000 up. The concept, not the song, sets the number.

What are the main sections of a music video budget breakdown?

Pre-production, the director, shoot crew, talent, camera and lighting, art department and wardrobe, locations, transport and catering, post-production, and insurance. Below the subtotal sit the production fee and a contingency.

How much contingency should a music video budget have?

Plan on about 10 percent of the subtotal, and up to 15 percent for stunts, night exteriors or heavy VFX. Contingency is for real surprises on the day, not for scope the artist adds later.

What percentage of a music video budget goes to the director?

It varies with the director's profile and the label. In the three examples here the director fee is 16, 12 and 9 percent, because crew, gear and sets grow faster than the fee as budgets rise.

Is this music video budget template free?

Yes. Copy the tables into Google Sheets or Excel, keep the lines you need and change the numbers. No account needed.