The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

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Band’s Big Show contract not valid

After winning a competition against three other groups in the October 2004 Battle of the Bands, members of PoM were looking forward to receiving their prizes from Student Production and Campus Entertainment, which included a weekend of free recording time and the chance to open at the upcoming Big Show 5.

But neither of the prizes were delivered.

Members of the band said they were never notified that the date of Big Show 5 was moved from April 17 to May 8. When Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday were scheduled for the concert, PoM was not notified that the contract with the bands did not allow an opening act. And when the band looked to collect its weekend of free recording, the contact that was provided by SPACE asked the band to pay for the time, and then reduced it to a single four-hour session of recording.

The producer that was supposed to provide the free recording time has not responded to several e-mails and telephone calls from PoM, and the band has not yet recorded, said Katrina Veeh, freshman CTVA major and lead singer of PoM.

“I tried contacting SPACE to see if they could do anything about it, but the person who I spoke to basically said to just deal with it,” Veeh said.

Specific details in the contracts for Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday state that no other band can play in the show, and PoM will not be able to open for them, said Yolanda Anguiano, executive director of SPACE.

PoM also signed a contract with SPACE prior to the Battle of the Bands, but it contained only the signatures of members of the band. The contract that was initially given to PoM by Terteryan was signed by all PoM members and specified that members of the band be available on April 17 to play at the Big Show 5, Coe said.

But the contract was never signed by David Crandall, general manager of Associated Students, which was needed to make the contract valid, Anguiano said.

Therefore, the contract was never implemented, she said.

PoM contacted SPACE to inform them of the problems they were having with the producer, and tried to contact Marina Terteryan, director of concerts for SPACE.

But Terteryan did not respond to the band for three to four weeks, Coe said.

When Terteryan contacted the band via e-mail, she apologized for the situation, but said there was not much that could be done, except to learn from the experience.

Terteryan also explained in the e-mail that the agreement for the free recording time was made verbally with the producer, and therefore could not be enforced.

The producer did not respond to several calls asking for comment.

Although it was upsetting finding out the recording time was probably not going to happen, the band was still expecting to open for a big-name band, Coe said.

Shortly after that, PoM found out that would not happen either.

“A couple of weeks ago, I happened to go on the SPACE message board and noticed that the date for the Big Show had changed from April 17 to May 8,” Veeh said.

The band had not been notified of any schedule changes regarding the Big Show, Coe said.

When Terteryan did not respond, Veeh said she e-mailed a SPACE member whose e-mail address was listed on the SPACE message board, in order to find out what was going on and why the group was not notified. But they received no response, she said.

When Coe found out the band would not be playing in the Big Show, she said, she e-mailed Leanne Vincent, SPACE adviser. Vincent contacted Coe shortly thereafter, apologized to the band, and asked them to come in for a meeting April 8.

“I was in tears,” Almonte said. “I was so shaken and hysterical. I mean, it’s what we’ve been working for. We told our families and all our friends and fans.”

According to Coe, Vincent said she had no idea about any contract with the band until she received the e-mail. She said she was under the impression that PoM had known since February that they would not be playing in the Big Show until she received the e-mail.

Members of SPACE did not look into the situation with PoM because they assumed Terteryan had taken care of it, since she is director of concerts, and therefore dealing with PoM was her responsibility, Anguiano said.

Terteryan declined to comment.

Anguiano said it was not confirmed until mid-March that PoM would not be playing at the Big Show, due to the contracts of Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday.

“We have made PoM another offer to play at our Pre-Big Show party on April 27, and they have agreed,” Anguiano said.

The whole situation, according to Anguiano, was only brought to her attention within the past week. Once she and Vincent found out, they immediately contacted PoM for a meeting to speak face-to-face to find a way to compensate the band, she said.

Anguiano said it is unfortunate there was a miscommunication among the members of SPACE and the members of PoM, but said this has served as a learning experience for everyone involved.

“We’re not going to work with this (producer) again,” Anguiano said. “He’s not someone we’re interested in working with in the future.”

Anguiano said SPACE understood PoM’s disappointment and was glad they could compensate them in some way.

Veeh said she was disappointed that the only reason anything was acknowledged was because PoM spoke up. Otherwise it would have just been swept under the rug, she said.

“It’s really sad they would rather have a big name band than have us (play) from their own student body,” Veeh said.

Although she felt that Vincent and Anguiano were genuinely sorry and appreciated that some answers were finally given, there is nothing that will make up for what they have been through, Almonte said.

“Nothing is going to make up for losing (the opportunity to play in) the Big Show or losing the recording time,” Almonte said.

Sal Hernandez contributed to this report.

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