List of most expensive albums

== List of albums by promotional budget/campaign cost ==

—the accompanying tour for Michael Jacksons HIStory (1995) Overview Michael Jackson's HIStory (1995) has the most extensive marketing campaign in popular music history, 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. The lattermost, had the biggest Warner Records promotional campaign for an album up to the release of Like a Prayer (1989) with $2 million. 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. 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, and Rihanna's sponsorship with Samsung for $25 million which covered the release of her album Anti (2016) and its tour. == 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. • ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) – the cover, costing £25,000, was reportedly the most expensive cover design up to this time. Most covers up to that point had a cost of about £50. == Notes ==