This is the problem (funding) of almost every artist (including myself), doesn't mater, signed or unsigned - nothing is guaranteed . The difficulty is to get in there - get relevant material, exposure, collaborations, influential names to be involved on the record/single/E.P - this all is just the first step, hardest part comes after - to stay relevant. I love Katy and her stuff (Most favorite era - "Prism" <3 <3 <3 ) and I hope for her great come back, because at the end of the day, we like or dislike artist, they give us a hope and drive to try to achieve that heights that they've managed to, but her example is nothing else than a life of almost every artist everyday, who struggling to break through & establish - we mostly pay for all from our own pocket and almost never get the spent amount back (Even Mariah Carey said that even established artists aren't getting much from Spotify etc. Streaming even though the highest is Apple). So I'm not surprised reading she had to (probably) pay for her own music video. We all do that when it comes to that - fair play to her, if you're after art - you're the one who's investing in your own stuff and sooner or later it will pay off. Night be flop might be success - 50/50, but unfortunately it all takes a while and the industry itself is not cheap, so fair play to her and all the other artists who are doing it all on their own. I think at the end when you pay for what you want and don't get what you expect, at least you have a right to say something about it