After disappointing sales for The Strokes concert on Oct. 2, Emens Auditorium is in for another let down, selling approximately 1,500 tickets of 3,400 for Sunday's O.A.R. show.
If more students do not buy tickets today or in the 2 hours prior to Sunday's 7 p.m. event, Emens's will suffer a serious financial blow.
Emens wants to provide programming for its constituents but it is still a business that needs to bring in revenue, Robert Myers, director of Emens Auditorium, said.
"I cannot continue to lose money on student-oriented rock concerts," he said.
At The Strokes concert, Emens lost more than $40,000 after selling only 1,071 of an available 3,400 tickets. Students thought ticket prices were too high, Myers said. Emens was counting on the
OAR Jump
potential success of The Strokes' new album to help with sales, he said.
"The first 600 tickets sold very fast," Myers said. "We had a core group of students that were very excited."
To generate an excitement for O.A.R., Emens paid for advertising and donated tickets for giveaways on WNOU-FM, Radio Now 93.1. Emens also advertised in NUVO, local newspapers and daily student newspapers at Ball State University, Purdue University, Indiana University Bloomington and Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Darcy Wood, associate director of marketing for Emens Auditorium, said.
Myers said he would love to book more mainstream artists, but Emens simply cannot afford them. For example, Myers estimates that Dave Matthews Band tickets would have to be sold for $60. Selection is also limited by artist availability, because Emens has to find acts that are on tour, he said.
The New York Times's Kelefa Sanneh described O.A.R. as "hugely popular" and said "it's hard to imagine a more mainstream rock band than O.A.R." in a review of their sold-out January 2006 concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
In the past students have called for more mainstream rock acts to appear at Emens, but booking them has been difficult to do.
"Often times with rock and popular country, we don't have a lot of time to solicit feedback," Wood said. "The Strokes and O.A.R. are two bands we heard a buzz about on campus."
Concert recommendations are always welcome, Myers said. Students can stop by the Emens box office or submit ideas to the suggestion box located in Emens's main lobby.
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