The University is investigating whether Verizon Wireless held an unauthorized contest for tickets to the Maroon 5 concert, hosted May 2 by Quadrangle Club in conjunction with the University, according to Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Students Thomas Dunne.
The agency that booked the concert, More Music Group, will investigate the claims on behalf of the University. It is too early to consider the possibility of legal action, Dunne said.
Dunne was made aware of the contest when he heard rumors that University students "had difficulties interacting with someone claiming to be from Verizon" on the day of the concert, he said.
"We expect all the people that we partner with in putting on these events to act in good faith and act responsibly and with integrity, and if they don't do that we obviously take issue with it," Dunne said.
On the day of the concert, a 'Prince' reporter observed several people unaffiliated with the University come to the club claiming they had won tickets from a Verizon Wireless contest.
University policy does not allow corporate sponsorship at events and would not have agreed to a contest, Dunne said. The University had previously denied Verizon's requests to hang a banner on the stage and set up product demos at the concert.
"In our mind it was an event run by Princeton students for Princeton students and the deal a band has with an outside sponsor is not relevant to us," Dunne said.
The band may have given some of the complimentary tickets provided by the University to winners of the contest, Dunne said.
Providing complimentary tickets is a standard practice in the music business.
"What that doesn't mean is you then in turn use those complimentary tickets as an opportunity to engage in some sort of corporate sponsorship. That's something we feel is disingenuous," Dunne said.
There has been a history of bands and their agents acting rudely and taking advantage of student organizers, he said, and the University tries to ensure students are treated with respect.
"I think with a lot of bands who work in this market, there's a sense that they feel they can take advantage of student planners," he said. "We've made it increasingly clear in our contracts that there are specific standards of behavior. They need to keep in the forefront of their minds that they're here solely because of the interest of the students."
Officers of Quadrangle Club were unavailable or declined to comment.
Todd Erickson, the More Music Group agent who booked the concert, did not return requests for comment.
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