2008 Woodie Awards
mtvU contract has students footing bill
Erich Wagner
Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: News
While SEE is paying the production costs of this year's mtvU co-sponsored Art Attack, other stops on the Campus Invasion Music Festival are being financed entirely by mtvU.
mtvU's Campus Invasion Tour will stop in Philadelphia and Boston in the days after it comes to the university. Students in these cities are paying $5 and $8 respectively, but students at this university will pay a similar admission fee in addition to the student fees that SEE already uses to fund Art Attack.
Student Entertainment Events officials say the unprecedented $5 cost for university students attending this year's Art Attack - to be held in Byrd Stadium May 2 - comes from footing the bill for production costs necessary to secure the show. SEE President Sara Stesis said the group wasn't offered the option of getting a free concert on the campus, leading them to devote their more than $59,000 Art Attack budget to the production costs of the event.
"It was never a possibility that we paid nothing," Stesis said. "[mtvU] approached us wanting for it to be our spring show, for it to be outside and for us to pay for tech while they paid for talent."
After inquiries from Diamondback reporters, SEE contacted mtvU and discovered that mtvU had changed their model for the Campus Invasion Tour after already making an agreement with the university.
Jason Rzepka, the director of communications for mtvU, said the discrepancy between payments for each show stem from a problem with headliner Wyclef Jean's inability to play in April, which ultimately led to a change in the financial model used for the concert.
"The bulk of college spring fling concerts occur in April, but Wyclef was only available in May," Rzepka said. "It made more sense to just put the tour in a central location while colleges were still in session."
Maggy Baccinelli, the public relations director for SEE, said after the group booked the show, they moved on to planning the concert and didn't keep tabs on deals mtvU made with other stops on the tour.
mtvU's Campus Invasion Tour will stop in Philadelphia and Boston in the days after it comes to the university. Students in these cities are paying $5 and $8 respectively, but students at this university will pay a similar admission fee in addition to the student fees that SEE already uses to fund Art Attack.
Student Entertainment Events officials say the unprecedented $5 cost for university students attending this year's Art Attack - to be held in Byrd Stadium May 2 - comes from footing the bill for production costs necessary to secure the show. SEE President Sara Stesis said the group wasn't offered the option of getting a free concert on the campus, leading them to devote their more than $59,000 Art Attack budget to the production costs of the event.
"It was never a possibility that we paid nothing," Stesis said. "[mtvU] approached us wanting for it to be our spring show, for it to be outside and for us to pay for tech while they paid for talent."
After inquiries from Diamondback reporters, SEE contacted mtvU and discovered that mtvU had changed their model for the Campus Invasion Tour after already making an agreement with the university.
Jason Rzepka, the director of communications for mtvU, said the discrepancy between payments for each show stem from a problem with headliner Wyclef Jean's inability to play in April, which ultimately led to a change in the financial model used for the concert.
"The bulk of college spring fling concerts occur in April, but Wyclef was only available in May," Rzepka said. "It made more sense to just put the tour in a central location while colleges were still in session."
Maggy Baccinelli, the public relations director for SEE, said after the group booked the show, they moved on to planning the concert and didn't keep tabs on deals mtvU made with other stops on the tour.
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