Spring Weekend is one of the most talked about events every school year. Whether students are talking about the upcoming concert or a concert from a previous year, the topic always brings up mixed emotions. As the concert artists were just revealed, whatever reaction you may have, SCOPE hopes you will still partake in the many festivities of the weekend. This year, we want to offer students some insight into how Spring Concert is creted in hopes that your questions can be answered.

The exciting final decision is usually made prior to winter break, and the artist selection process begins as early as October when we send out a survey to the student body. We use the survey to gauge the type of genre students want to see during Spring Weekend, and to also get any suggestions that students think will work well for our campus.

The next step is to look into possible artists based on a price point that fits within our budget. While budgeting, we keep in mind that the entirety of our funds cannot go towards the artist because we also need to purchase sound, lighting, and staging for both the concert and comedian. The cost for sound and lighting varies depending on the artist, so while we may be able to afford an artist’s performance cost, we may not be able to also afford their rider needs.

Finally, the SCOPE president, and both vice presidents come up with our choice that best fits our criteria and we put in an offer. However, sometimes this is not exactly the end of the process. Sometimes artist availability just does not work out in our favor and we need to turn to our plan B or C.

As we try to get popular artists, we are competing with other schools across the country who possibly have larger budgets or make an offer earlier than we do. Other times, the artists have prior commitments like going on tour or recording a new album, so they turn down our offer. No matter what, our final decision is made knowing we did our best to find artists that many students will enjoy.

If you have any further questions, please email [email protected]. For ticket sale information, follow @NewHavenSCOPE on all social media platforms and look for signs around campus.