We don’t envy the task of the WILD director. Faced with a student body marked by diverging tastes and a budget too limited to afford an artist with ubiquitous appeal, each semester is a delicate balancing act between maximizing the headliner’s popularity, promoting genre diversity and finding a performer engaging enough to convert newcomers. This can amount to something of a zero-sum game. Stray from hip-hop, and you risk the wrath of those who keep indie rock far from their pregame playlists. Continue to ignore rock, and the groans of homogeneity persist. You can’t win, unless Drake, Beyonce or Paul McCartney lower their booking fees by an extraordinary sum.

Given these constraints, Mac Miller is a solid choice. He boasts a handful of minor hits (“Donald Trump,” “Party on Fifth Ave.,” “Loud”); a catalogue that veers between hooky frat-rap and tunes of a more insular, psychedelic variety; and a generally unthreatening demeanor. And while Miller’s lyrical and vocal talents are below average, one can’t help but admire his burgeoning production skills and desire to expand his stylistic range.

Some will enjoy his performance; many will whine about it (this has more to do with the student body’s general disposition towards WILD—fraught with utopian visions of the Perfect Headliner—than any factors within Social Programming Board’s control), the rest will pass out well before Miller hits the stage. It’ll be fine and dandy and we’ll move on to a week of finals-induced hell, clinging to the perpetually underwhelming memories of our biannual semi-bacchanal.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Granted, there’s little anyone can do to quell the air of post-WILD ennui. But it can be lessened.

Our suggestion: focus on booking stellar live performers above all else. Genre and popularity don’t matter if an artist can’t hold down a stage. You need charisma, energy, maybe a little danger. What the artist does on stage is the single most important factor in determining the success (or lack thereof) of the performance.

It’s all about expectations. If everyone comes in buzzing about a name headliner and the headliner tanks, it doesn’t matter how many top-40 hits he has. Likewise, if expectations are low for a lesser-known performer, a good set will shine even brighter in contrast to the pre-show indifference.

To its credit, Social Programming Board has made strides toward adopting this performance-first philosophy in recent semesters by booking Chance the Rapper (his abbreviated WILD set was a rare blemish on his reputation as an electrifying live presence) and putting the likes of Janelle Monae and Miguel on its surveys.

But there’s still work to be done.

Anyone remember Wolfgang Gartner? Yeah, neither do we. Spring 2013’s festival-style concert didn’t do much to appease those tired of hip-hop and EDM-heavy bills, and it became clear last spring that Childish Gambino’s recent work plays better on record than on stage. We suspect Miller will have the same problem.

Next year, it’s time for this campus’ concert bookers to free themselves from the grip of a student body that will complain regardless of the artist chosen. Find a performer who can light up a stage, and the rest will take care of itself.