So, they don't want off-campus promotion, do they?
WMUC and SEE are not connected other than some funding and Noreen's presence. Chevelle is rarely, if ever, played on the station. This "agreement" should never have been made; it was just asking for trouble.
From
The Diamondback, UMCP's campus paper:
WMUC DJs fired after discussing Art Attack on air
SEE contract with Chevelle's managers prevents off-campus concert promotion
By Ben Block
May 05, 2005
Two WMUC 88.1-FM disc jockeys were fired after they broke an agreement the station reached with SEE not to mention the band Chevelle playing at this year??s Art Attack concert on the air.
Student Entertainment Events had made a contractual agreement with Chevelle??s management promising not to promote the band??s Friday appearance at the university to off-campus fans.
When approached by a SEE leader who is also a DJ at the station, WMUC leaders agreed to help SEE by preventing DJs from saying ??Chevelle? on the air because the independent station??s broadcast reaches off-campus listeners.
Noreen Tahir, SEE??s film director and a WMUC DJ, said in an e-mail to WMUC staff that the restriction was partially to prevent next Saturday??s WWDC FM (DC101) Chili Cookoff, which Chevelle is scheduled to headline, from losing business to the cheaper on-campus concert. Chevelle??s management works for Clear Channel Communications, a corporation that owns television and radio shows across the country, including DC 101. The station officials said they had nothing to do with the agreement.
??DC 101 (who obviously realize that their concert is facing a lot of competition) and Chevelle??s management are restricting SEE from promoting Chevelle??s performance at Art Attack off-campus,? Tahir wrote in an e-mail obtained by The Diamondback.
The WMUC hosts of ??Fritz and Schlomo? were fired after ignoring management and repeating ??Chevelle? multiple times on their early-morning talk show Monday.
Niklas Rowold, co-host of the radio show, said he doesn??t think SEE should have any control over what WMUC DJs say.
??We??re the ones paying for it; why shouldn??t we be able to talk about it?? he said. ??They can??t tell me what I promote and don??t promote. If SEE chooses not to promote the act, that??s fine. But they have no power to tell me that I can??t talk about it. ... They??re abusing our rights.?
Andrew Sterne, the other ??Fritz and Schlomo? DJ, is threatening legal action against the radio station. He wrote in an e-mail to the station??s management, ??This is not over. ... You will pay the price.?
SEE officials would not say why they agreed not to promote the concert to off-campus audiences and said the details of the contract are private. Chevelle??s manager Drew Pompilio did not return multiple phone calls.
??We??re providing music, we??re providing entertainment, Chevelle is coming and that??s all people need to know,? said Rebecca Halperin, SEE concerts director.
SEE is not worried about financial losses from not promoting Chevelle off the campus, though the only source of revenue for the concert is through off-campus ticket sales. Student tickets are free.
??This is an on-campus concert, mainly for University of Maryland students faculty and staff, so ... not being able to promote Chevelle off campus isn??t something that we have to be concerned for Art Attack,? said Steve Mencarini, SEE program coordinator. ??We??re selling more off-campus tickets this year than last year, so we??re making more money.?
Linah Lubin, SEE public relations director, said last night 750 nonstudent tickets had been sold as of Tuesday.
Concert promoters often restrict a musical act from being advertised frequently in the same area, said Lisa Greenfield, promotions coordinator for Clear Channel.
??It??s something all bands do, all band management. Plenty of times you can??t announce a concert because a band is playing somewhere else,? Greenfield said. ??It??s happened to us numerous times. We can??t announce the biggest concert of the year sometimes.?
Some WMUC leaders said they did not care enough about SEE, Art Attack or Chevelle to protest.
??Most of the people at the radio station don??t care enough about the current lineup SEE is putting on; it??s not bands WMUC is interested about, so any promotion doesn??t mean anything to us,? said Max Novakowski, the station??s manager. ??I don??t have a Chevelle CD, and I don??t know a Chevelle song.?
The DJs were fired because after they were told not to mention Chevelle, they devoted an entire show to doing so and acted ??unprofessionally? by e-mailing DC 101 employees asking whether the agreement was true, Novakowski said. Radio station officials said the agreement was between SEE and Chevelle, and DC 101 was uninvolved.
??It is unfortunate the show was booked after DC 101 [booked the Chili Cookoff],? Donielle Flynn, a DJ for DC 101, told The Diamondback. ??We are not trying to cause any kind of hardship for the university or their show; we are just trying to raise money for the National Kidney Foundation, like we??ve been doing for 26 years.?
Sterne said he was outraged by what he called ??illegal? and ??un-American? attempts to silence WMUC.
??I think it??s total bullshit,? said Sterne, a senior finance and general business major. ??This station is run by a bunch of kids ?? you can??t do that. ... I asked too many questions. ... We didn??t do anything illegal.?
