UAlbany SA Blog

Message on Parkfest

Dear Students,

It has come to our attention that some students have voiced their disdain for the pricing of this year’s Parkfest concert. We would like to clear up all of the student’s concerns as well as prove that any disdain for the pricing is entirely unwarranted.

Every year the Student Association attempts to improve on their programming efforts on campus. As has been tradition, SA brings a Rock or Pop artist in the fall and a hip-hop/ R&B artist in the spring, and the prices of such artists has been increasing over the years. In the recent past, the concert tickets have been selling for the unsustainably low price of $10. Over the past years, the concert series have suffered due to the lack of revenue produced by having a limited on-campus concert. This past fall SA was lucky enough to have LMFAO perform at the school during the peak of their popularity only because the contract that had been signed months prior was valued at less than half of what LMFAO was charging at the actual time of the concert. In order to have quality concerts with popular, well known artists it is necessary to spend the money for such artists. That being said, the cost of bringing popular artists does not match the revenue that could be generated by the limited capacity of campus facilities and a $10 ticket. By increasing the ticket cost, SA was able to make this year’s Parkfest not only more relevant, but fiscally responsible and sustainable. Ticket prices for the concert have not traditionally been $10 dollars, in fact the prices were much higher than the current price of $20 in the early 2000s to support bringing bigger names to off-campus venues where a profit can be turned.

We believe here at the Student Association that students would like to see quality concerts, but with an ever growing student community that needs more funding by the year, the Student Activity Fee budget is spread thinner amongst everyone every year. There is only one way to keep the concert series going while still bringing quality artists and funding close to a hundred student groups (recognizing over 200), and that is for everyone to pay slightly more to see a concert. In addition, the ticket prices are still well under the price of any other ticket for a show of similar value, which makes the $20 dollar pricing very reasonable if one is not focused on past shows, but taking this one at its face value.

We hope that this clears up any concerns students have, if not feel free to reach out and comment to us at SA@albany.edu.


Zafir Uddin

President

Student Association at the State University of New York at Albany, Inc. ("UAlbany Student Association")
(518) 442-5640 (Student Association)
(518) 442-5641 (fax)
www.albany.edu/studentassociation