Plans for the spring Jubilee concert are underway, with a music genre survey currently available and no fall Homecoming concert to compete for funding.
Carolina Union Activities Board President Neil Harwani said there will be a Homecoming comedy show in place of a fall concert. CUAB stopped hosting fall concerts in order to have a better budget for Jubilee, he said.
“If we try to do a relatively large name in the fall, that just doesn’t leave enough funding for the spring,” Harwani said. “There is a lot more that goes into a concert other than just purchasing the artist for a certain amount of time.”
In the past, CUAB surveyed students on which artist they preferred rather than a genre, but Harwani said the strategy was ineffective.
The Weeknd, an alternative R&B artist, was the most popular choice among students, but budgeting issues resulted in the country artist Chase Rice performing instead.
Harwani said pricing for artists is tricky as artists grow in popularity.
“We realized that in the music industry, when you look at an artist today and then look at him or her three months down the road, their prices can drastically change,” Harwani said.
“On our first survey last year, The Weeknd was super popular and during that time when we put the survey out ... The Weeknd was affordable with our budget. Then, by the time that we got the results back, got the venue and everything set, his prices had doubled.”
Senior Marketa Burnett was upset when the artist who received the most votes did not perform in the spring.
