Every April, the University of Minnesota celebrates Spring Jam, a three-day music festival celebrating the end of the school year. Spring Jam has changed throughout the years to include more performers, and this year we’re bringing more artists to campus than ever before. A student in 2008 would have only been able to see one performer, whereas this year students can see seven different artists in just three days. As a coordinator for the Student Unions and Activities Program Board, I wanted to provide some background on how we select artists.
First and foremost, students on the SUA Program Board are responsible for researching, selecting and contracting all artists that perform throughout the year at SUA events. There are many factors we must consider prior to selecting an artist, and we always begin by collecting survey data from the student community on who they would like to see perform. This past year, you may have given us artist suggestions throughout homecoming, at various events in the unions or via social media. To narrow down this list of student suggestions, we look at things such as how much it costs to bring in each artist and whether that artist is available. In addition, we compete with local venues and tours scheduled through the area as our campus is situated in a thriving music community. We know it takes a long time to collect all of this information and began the Spring Jam 2013 artist-selection process in October 2012.
We received many requests from students to see Macklemore perform on campus. In November 2012, we learned that Macklemore would only be available to perform on the Thursday of Spring Jam. We started researching on-campus venues for the show and immediately submitted an offer for him to perform. When it was rejected, we responded by increasing our offer. This second attempt was also declined, so we proposed alternative spring dates to Macklemore’s agent, and we were unable to come to an agreement. We know many students were excited to see Macklemore perform on campus, and we were, too, but unfortunately it wasn’t possible.
Even as we pursued Macklemore, our priority was always to select artists from a wide variety of music genres for Spring Jam 2013, and we are excited about this year’s lineup. We are confident that the artists will all put on great shows. We can’t guarantee that the weather will be warm and sunny, but we do hope you will come out to enjoy the Spring Jam festivities.
