Over 30 student bands have pledged to refuse to perform at St. John’s May Ball as part of a boycott launched earlier this week (22/05). The open letter, first circulated on Monday, includes both Cambridge and Oxford bands and over 230 individual signatures.

The ball’s original contracts included deposit clauses of £260 per person for some student bands, adding up to as much as £5000 for large bands. Although the amount would not have left students’ bank accounts, the whole amount was required to be present in the account for authorisation.

The deposits have now been fixed at £50 and charged to all student performers following widespread backlash. However, multiple musicians told Varsity that well-known bands such as Colonel Spanky’s Love Ensemble and Soft Crunchy Landing were exempted from the initial £260 deposit. The former told Varsity that they encouraged other bands not to pay their deposit, but that John’s May Ball Committee’s “decision to clamp down” led to organised action.

In an attempt to gather support, the Vice President of the ball reportedly requested the May Week Presidents’ Committee to issue a joint statement defending the deposit policy. However, their bid was refused.

The open letter described the deposits included in some musicians’ contracts as “extremely concern[ing].” The letter goes on to compare such contracts to “bonded labour,” as “performers are being asked to become indebted to the committee before earning back that debt through their performances.” The boycott was organised via a group chat among Cambridge’s student musicians, which has been active for a number of months.

Announcing their involvement in the boycott, Soft Crunchy Landing, Daniel Daley Sextet, and Quasar spoke of their “regret,” while emphasising that the bands “cannot endorse a policy which was designed to target the smaller and newer bands in Cambridge.”

Temor, one of the Cambridge bands involved in the boycott, told Varsity that the contracts offered by the ball are reflective of the privilege inherent in such events: “These balls are the ultimate parties of the exclusive elite, in John’s’ case in particular,” the band said. Temor continued: “As a musician working there, you just feel like an added cost and undesirable in the way they treat you.”

They went on to describe the boycott as “the easiest decision in the world.” The band told Varsity: “Whilst we love playing gigs, John’s were literally offering the lowest amount we’ve ever been offered for a large function gig,” and this sum appeared to be non-negotiable.

The band were also left feeling frustrated by the committee’s description of deposits as “standard practice,” as the policy is “practically unheard of” among musicians outside of John’s May Ball. Temor pointed out that some larger gigs even pay deposits to bands in the form of down payments.

Two well-known bands involved in the boycott also spoke to Varsity about how they felt the committee “weren’t willing to engage” over the dispute. One of these bands recalled how the committee “made it very clear from the outset that they were happy with a boycott,” while another said that John’s “could not see the issue with the policy itself, despite being told by the bands, other committees, Oxford musicians, St. John’s students, and even their guests.”

The ball, concluded Temor, was made to feel “like a huge and ruthless corporation rather than a fun student event. For us,” the band continued, “the deposit is just a microcosm of the way in which John’s, and others around Cambridge, think it’s okay to treat the people that work for them.”

A representative for St. John’s May Ball told Varsity: “We respect and revere the rights of this group of Cambridge University student musicians to enact a boycott and to do as their conscience dictates. We have taken the concerns raised by this group and others very seriously and have implemented a reformed contract to address them. While many have met us at this point in order to move forward constructively and together, we are saddened by the fact that a small group of bands and individuals have not felt able to do so and remain tethered to their initial position.”

They continued: “We will continue to do all we can to find a resolution and would direct anyone who would like to know more about this to our “Ents” highlight reel on our Instagram @stjohnsmayball where they will find our full statement. We do hope to welcome these musicians back to the May Ball in the future as we respect them and their talents hugely. Of course, we are disappointed that they have chosen not to perform at or experience this year’s May Ball which is shaping up to be something we are all very proud of, and hopefully the best John’s Ball yet.”