The Spring Fling survey has officially closed, which means it is time for the Student Association Programming Board (SAPB) to start planning for next semester’s concert.

The survey listed performer options from four genres — hip-hop, country, electronic and pop rock/alternative — and featured headliner options such as Future and Walk the Moon.

According to Bernadette Machuca, the SA vice president for programming (VPP) and a senior majoring in biology, when creating the survey, she made sure to only list artists that were within the SAPB’s price range.

“Everything that’s on the survey is everything that is a possibility,” Machuca said. “That’s something that a lot of people are very surprised with.”

As of Wednesday, December 9, over 2,900 students had participated in the survey. Chance the Rapper was leading with over 1,200 votes, closely followed by Steve Aoki and Future. Walk the Moon was also popular, leading in the pop rock/alternative genre with 1,086 votes.

Machuca said that her office was planning to start the bidding process for artists as soon as possible. Bids are binding for the first two weeks that they are active, and she said she planned to only put out one bid at a time. In the past, the VPP has offered multiple bids, which Machuca said can backfire if multiple artists accept within the first two weeks.

“Right now what we’re focusing on is a really good headliner,” Machuca said. “We’re going to put all our energy and money into that, and then after we get all of our income finalized we’ll see if we have money to play around with another act.”

She said that at most, there will be two larger acts at Spring Fling this year.

When deciding which artists are affordable, Machuca evaluates both the SAPB budget and income from fall events. In addition to funds available, other details play into whether an artist is feasible.

One of these factors is the date of Spring Fling. According to Machuca, BU’s event is generally later than other schools’ concerts. Originally, her office had considered moving Spring Fling one weekend earlier, but realized that because it would then be closer to other schools’ dates, booking artists would be more difficult.

“We’re really, really low on the scale of budgets,” she said. “Big schools like Cornell, Syracuse and Buffalo would completely outbid us. So we switched the weekend to have a better chance.”

Artist popularity also plays a large role in affordability. While many big names were on the survey this year, Machuca said that if an artist is not currently booking major concerts, they are much more achievable.

“We an afford them because they’re not trending right now. It’s literally a market. If people aren’t interested, you can bid pretty low for them.”

But extra costs can also pop up unexpectedly. Artist production costs, and the prices of logistics such as transportation to and from BU, can be hard to predict.

Machuca also said that the amount of people associated with an act, either in the form of multiple performers or a large entourage, could play a role in the cost of the event. According to her, more people mean more expenses for transportation and other accommodations.

The SAPB is still operating under a deficit, which Machuca said currently stands at about $28,000. The VPP office owes the money to the SA’s personal account, but still works to replenish the funds. Going into each year, she said, the office subtracts the deficit total from the annual budget to attempt to pay it off. But due to unexpected costs, the budget is inevitably exceeded, which makes paying off the deficit a more long-term process.

Above all, Machuca said, her office aims to put on the best show possible for students. She said that while cost is always a concern, help from Campus Activities and support from students inevitably makes Spring Fling possible.

“People should know that it’s hard for us to do these events,” she said. “If it wasn’t for sponsorships, campus activities and people going to our events and buying tickets, we wouldn’t be able to do this stuff.”

But budgeting restraints do not stop Machuca from dreaming big, and she said a great Spring Fling lineup is her priority.

“It’s a risk we take,” she said. “We either make the jump or we don’t.”