List of most expensive albums

For most expensive purchased albums, see List of most valuable records.

The following is a list of the most expensive albums made with a recorded sum of over $1 million, sorted by the most money spent in promotional campaigns and album covers. The recording process traditionally requires an investment in studio time and skilled record production labor, and the process can be expensive.^[1]

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)'s billboard for its 50th anniversary. An early example of an expensive album.

In the late 1950s, the cost of producing pop albums ran from $3,000 to $7,000.^[2] The average cost of producing an album climbed to $15,000 in the 1960s.^[3] Early examples of record-breaking expensive albums include Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) with a reported sum of £25,000,^[4][a] alongside Tommy (1969) and Pet Sounds (1966) each with a cost of $70,000,^[6][7] as well as unfinished album Smile whose single "Good Vibrations" (1966) alone had a budget between $50,000 and $75,000,^[b] more than most entire albums cost in those days.^[9] Multiple albums were budgeted with a cost between $350,000 and $500,000 by late 1970s,^[10] whereas popular rock albums had an average of $100,000 and as high as $500,000 by the midpoint of the decade.^[11][c] Some albums were produced on a $1 million budget by 1981.^[10] Accountant John McClain gave an estimated cost of $2.5 million for a Michael Jackson record in 1987.^[14] Nowadays, according to IFPI, production costs for popular albums are "generally budgeted for at least $200,000, and if much studio time is used, costs can soar well past $350,000".^[1] Some artist's sponsorships covered the cost of producing the album, most notoriously Mariah Carey between the Bahamas Board of Tourism with her album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009).^[15][16]

The first album to cost over $1 million is believed to be Tusk (1979) by Fleetwood Mac.^[17] Chinese Democracy (2008) by Guns N' Roses, once included as the most expensive record in the Guinness World Records, probably cost over $1 million per year during its recording sessions from 1998 to 2006.^[18] With a cost between $30 and $40 million, Michael Jackson's Invincible (2001) remains the most expensive album ever produced.^[19][20][21] Both Michael Jackson and Kanye West have multiple appearances, with at least four each.

List of albums by recorded costs

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Released	Album	Artist	Recorded	Approx cost	Adjusted cost (in 2024 dollars)	Ref.
2001	Invincible[d]	Michael Jackson	1997–2001	$30–40 million	$53,273,821/$71,031,761	[19][21][20]
2008	Chinese Democracy	Guns N' Roses	1998–2007	$13 million	$18,985,626	[23]
1995	HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I	Michael Jackson	1979–1995	$10 million	$20,635,510	[24]
1991	Dangerous	Michael Jackson	1989–1991	$8–10 million	$18,468,605/$23,085,756	[25][26][27]
2001	Victoria Beckham	Victoria Beckham	1999–2001	£5 million	£10,444,883	[28]
1987	Hysteria	Def Leppard	1984–1987	$4.5–5 million	$13,838,606/$12,454,745	[29][30][31]
1999	The Life of Chris Gaines[e]	Garth Brooks	—	$5 million	$9,437,675	[31][33]
2009	Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel	Mariah Carey	2009	£4 million	£6,776,930	[15]
2002	Untouchables	Korn	2001	$4 million[f]	$6,992,784	[35]
1988	Non Stop	Julio Iglesias	—	$3 million	$7,976,083	[36]
2010	My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy	Kanye West	2009–2010	$3 million	$4,325,805	[37]
2015	Once Upon a Time in Shaolin	Wu-Tang Clan	2007–2013	$3 million	$3,979,643	[38]
2003	Deftones	Deftones	2002	$2.5 million	$4,273,245	[39]
1987	Bad	Michael Jackson	1985–1987	$2 million	$5,535,442	[40]
2005	Late Registration	Kanye West	2004–2005	$2 million	$3,219,969	[41]
2010	Superficial	Heidi Montag	2007–2009	$2 million	$2,883,870	[42]
1982	Rock in a Hard Place	Aerosmith	1981–1982	$1.5 million	$4,887,414	[43]
1990	Charmed Life	Billy Idol	1989–1990	$1.5 million	$3,610,163	[44]
1993	Aries	Luis Miguel	1992–1993	$1.5 million	$3,265,031	[45]
2011	Watch the Throne	Kanye West Jay-Z	2010–2011	$1.5 million	$2,096,672	[46]
2013	Yeezus	Kanye West	2012–2013	$1.5 million	$2,024,786	[46]
1979	Tusk	Fleetwood Mac	1978–1979	$1.4 million	$6,065,383	[47][48]
2012	Cruel Summer	GOOD Music	2010	$1.3 million	$1,780,504	[46]
1979	The Long Run	Eagles	1978–1979	$1 million	$4,332,416	[49]
1981	For Those About to Rock We Salute You	AC/DC	1981	$1 million	$3,458,638	[50]
1982	Donna Summer	Donna Summer	1981–1982	$1 million	$3,258,276	[51]
1988	Brian Wilson	Brian Wilson	1987–1988	$1 million[g]	$2,658,694	[52][53][54]
1989	The Seeds of Love	Tears for Fears	1986–1989	$1 million	$2,536,644	[55]
1991	Metallica	Metallica	1990–1991	$1 million	$2,308,576	[56]
1995	The Woman in Me	Shania Twain	1994–1995	$1 million[h]	$2,063,551	[57]
1998	He Got Game	Public Enemy	1997–1998	$1 million	$2,658,694	[59]
1999	Ricky Martin	Ricky Martin	—	$1 million	$1,887,535	[60]
2002	One by One	Foo Fighters	2002	$1 million	$1,748,196	[61]
2005	One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back	The Darkness	2005	$1 million	$1,609,985	[62]

List of albums by promotional budget/campaign cost

One of several 30-foot statues placed around Europe to promote the HIStory World Tour—the accompanying tour for Michael Jackson's HIStory (1995).

Released	Album	Artist	Record label	Budget, expenditure	Adjusted cost (in 2024 dollars)	Ref.
1995	HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I	Michael Jackson	Sony / Epic Records	$30,000,000	$61,906,530	[63][64]
2001	Invincible[d]	Michael Jackson	Sony / Epic Records	$25,000,000	$44,394,851	[19][20][65]
2013	Artpop	Lady Gaga	Interscope Records	$25,000,000	$33,746,429	[66]
1999	Brand New Day	Sting	A&M Records	$18,900,000	$35,674,411	[67]
1999	The Life of Chris Gaines[e]	Garth Brooks	Capitol Records	$15,000,000	$28,313,024	[31][33]
2000	1	The Beatles	Apple Records / EMI	$15,068,493	$27,513,467	[68]
2002	ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits	Elvis Presley	RCA Records	$10,000,000	$17,481,961	[69]

Overview

Michael Jackson's HIStory (1995) has the most extensive marketing campaign in popular music history,^[70] spent by a record label. Up to that point, a label might spent an average of $2 million in promotional campaigns for artists such as the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and Madonna, per release.^[24] The lattermost, had the biggest Warner Records promotional campaign for an album up to the release of Like a Prayer (1989) with $2 million.^[71] In contrast, according to Hank Bordowitz in Dirty Little Secrets of the Record Business (2007), mounting a successful promotional campaign for radio stations can cost between $250,000 and $1 million per song.^[72]

Examples of associated campaigns outside record label's efforts include Born This Way (2011) by Lady Gaga, with a reported sum of $3 million provided by Amazon,^[73] and Rihanna's sponsorship with Samsung for $25 million which covered the release of her album Anti (2016) and its tour.^[74]

List of album covers/packaging by cost

This is a list of record-breaking historical expensive album covers or CD packaging.

• Elvis Presley (1956) – reportedly was the most expensive album cover ever up to that point.^[75]
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) – the cover, costing £25,000, was reportedly the most expensive cover design up to this time.^[76][i] Most covers up that point had a cost of about £50.^[77]
• Aladdin Sane (1973) – reportedly was the most expensive album cover ever up to that point.^[78]

Notes

1. Also cited with a cost at $100,000.^[5]
2. Also cited with a cost at $25,000.^[8]
3. By this point, Queen's A Night at the Opera (1975) began to be advertised as "the most expensive album ever made",^[12] although the estimated cost was only £40,000 and such a label was later denied by the band.^[13]
4. Other sources give a total cost of $65 million.^[22] Most likely divided in the reported budget of $30–40 million and $25 million for promotional purposes.
5. Overall cost was at $20 million, which includes promotion and recording.^[32]
6. Recording the album alone only cost $700,000.^[34]
7. Another sum cited has been $800,000.
8. Another sum cited has been $750,000.^[57] Then most expensive country album ever made.^[58]
9. Also cited with a cost at £3,000.^[77]

See also

• Hollywood accounting
• Lists of most expensive items by category
  • List of most expensive music videos
  • List of largest music deals
• List of most expensive films