The NIU Campus Activities Board concert committee conducted a survey last week on the musical tastes of students and what concerts they have attended at NIU.

Committee Chairman Diane Dravillas said, “We wanted to find out what kind of music students listen to. Earlier in the year we conducted a smaller survey of 150 people, and they were interested in reggae and blues, but didn’t know of any groups. That’s why we asked UB40 to come; it turned out very well.”

The purpose of the concert committee is to bring quality, diverse concerts at the lowest possible price for students.

Last week’s survey was more extensive than the first and included a breakdown of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduate students. Dravillas said CAB is just beginning to evaluate the survey results.

Dravillas said she hoped the survey would also find out which promotional medium would be most effective. “I think fliers help a lot and word of mouth (is effective) … at the Smithereens concert where there were 1,400 people. I made an announcement about the UB40 concert and hoped those 1,400 people would tell their friends.”

The CAB budget is broken down into two budgets—the regular budget and the mid-level budget. The total budget is $46,000, while the mid-level budget is $19,000. This allows CAB $27,000 to organize concerts. The mid-level budget pays for free concerts which are arranged by Student Association-recognized organizations. Examples of these are the concerts associated with Unity in Diversity Week, which involved performers like Joseph Baird and Judy Gorman Jacobs.

The concert committee has been criticized for not programming major acts like U2, but the small budget does not allow for some major acts.

Dravillas said, “If we were to get U2, it would cost $250,000 just for them, not including the lights, stage equipment, food for the roadies and the band and other things. The total would probably cost us $400,000.

“We get most acts before they get really big. Like Tracy Chapman we got for $150; now she asks for $25,000.”

Other acts CAB has sponsored are REM and the Police.

The schedule for next semester is not planned yet because most concerts are planned just a month in advance. Dravillas said the UB40 concert was arranged a month before the show.

She said, “UB40 was the most well-known reggae band on the charts that we could afford.”

Dravillas said CAB has a research committee which finds out which bands are available, how much they cost and when they are available. The information is brought to the concert committee for review. The committee then researches the prospective band on how their records are selling and how well they are doing on local radio stations.

If the committee votes “yes,” University Progamming and Actvities adviser Steve Duchrow calls the agent from which CAB received the bid from and schedules a time.

Dravillas said, “We usually bid lower than what they want. If we hear ‘yes,’ then promotions takes over.”