Whenever music enthusiasts hear the phrase, "they don't make 'em like they used to" when it comes to music videos, Michael Jackson's short films were always awe-inspiring and wholly ambitious in ways that music videos just aren't anymore.
What some listeners overlook is that it isn't simply that artists don't want to make music videos like Michael Jackson's anymore, but that they simply can't today. The reason is that music videos simply don't have the budgets that videos had back then. Then again, even the average music video from yesteryear didn't have a considerable budget, nor, technically, did Michael Jackson's.
In actuality, the high production value and ambitious set-up for each of Michael Jackson's videos came out-of-pocket from MJ himself, putting them in a class all in themselves.
Michael Jackson Pulled From His Own Pocket For Most Of His Music Videos
Not All Studios Could Fund Music Videos like Michael Jackson Could
If one were to take a rundown of Michael Jackson's music videos, it should come as no surprise that most of his music videos rank among the most expensive ever made. When adjusted for inflation, the most expensive music videos ever include "Thriller" at reportedly $1,578,517, " the Time" at $4,481,385, "Bad" at $6,088,987, "You Rock My World" at $7,103,176, "Black or White" at $9,234,302, and "Scream" at $14,444,857. His short film for his duet with sister Janet currently stands as the most expensive music video ever made. What many of these videos have in common is that, in most cases, Michael Jackson self-funded them.
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Even in the case of a considerably less expensive and oft-forgotten video like, say, "Speed Demon," it's still pricier and more ambitious than the average video today. The video features stop-motion animation and was a part of MJ's experimental anthology movie, Moonwalker. While MJ often did have creative input on his music videos, he mostly always invested in these videos in one way or another, putting up big bucks to ensure the full scope of his vision could come to life.
Music Videos Today Don't Hit Like They Used To Because Of Money, Not Creativity
Most Artists Don't Have the Money That Michael Jackson Had
Michael Jackson had two things that many artists simply don't have today: time and money. With time, we live in a snappier society where things need to be done and produced quickly to catch up with the speed of social media. With money, the King of Pop was, at one point, the most popular artist on the planet, and with fame comes money. He had more money than most of his contemporaries, and he used it to fund his artistic vision for music videos.
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Michael Jackson came out of pocket for a lot of his music videos, hence why they were so expensive, and because so much money was invested into them, they ended up being classics. Music videos today aren't as noteworthy because artists aren't putting the kind of money into music videos like MJ used to. They don't because they can't. It's not a creativity problem today, it's a financial problem. Not everyone has the kind of money that Michael Jackson had to splurge on music videos.