It's only been out for less than a week, but the music video for 'APES**T' has sailed past 1,000,000 views and has people wondering just how it was that the Carters - that's Beyonce and Jay Z, not the other one - managed to get the Louvre for a music video shoot.
While most people might think that one of the most famous art galleries in the world is a hard get, it's actually quite the opposite. Per a report by the New York Times, the Louerve hosts roughly 500 shoots per year and the cost - in the grand scheme of things, anyway - isn't all that much. According to a 2015 price list, the highest fee collected by the Louerve was €15 thousand per day.
The Louvre, for their part, are more than happy to have two of the most well-known and celebrated musicians have a music video set in their gallery. It boosts attendance, makes it relevant with an entirely new demographic and generation, and engages them with their artwork in a way that few else have done.
In a statement to Vulture, the gallery explained that "Beyoncé and Jay-Z visited the Louvre four times in the last ten years. During their last visit in May 2018, they explained their idea of filming." The Louvre was, in their own words, "quickly convinced because the synopsis showed a real attachment to the museum and its beloved artworks." Not the potential revenue from the music video being the third most popular - as of writing - video on YouTube. Nah, not that at all.
