Dear Mr. Reineke,
My name is Justin Holt. I host a radio show called
BFN Networks on
UIC Radio (WUIC), the official student radio station at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I'm writing you to file a complaint.
I heard it directly from you that
“you're the boss,” that
“there's no one else above you,” that
“you don't answer to anyone.” Well, if you
are the man in charge, I thought it would be best to come to you with my grievance. You see, I've had a number of problems with one of Interscope's radio reps, and I would like you to rectify this situation. I've been attempting to do business with this rep for the past month, but I've gotten nowhere because he repeatedly drops the ball. He never returns his phone calls. He never replies to his e-mail. When he does choose to call me, it's only after I've left messages with the receptionists and his colleagues. Frankly, he is the most ineffective rep that I've ever dealt with in this business, and I think someone needs to be aware of his ineptitude.
His name is Brent Reineke. He is you.
Here's my story:
A little over a month ago I contacted college radio rep Brent Reineke to submit a request to interview Dredg on 08/26/2005. Alas, I was too late to the table. However, the band would be coming back to town on 10/01/2005, so I asked Brent if we could try for an in-studio interview then. He told me to have my music director get in touch with him in two weeks, and he'd submit the request. Because I already had Brent on the phone, I asked him if I could contact him about the interview myself because 1.) my music director is a busy guy as is and 2.) he shouldn't be forced to be the middle man between the label and my show. (Seriously, he wouldn't have time to sort through new music if he had to do all of my networking.) Brent agreed with me, said it would be fine if I contacted him on my own; I told him I would be in touch in two weeks.
Two weeks later, I called Brent. Unfortunately, the CMJ Music Festival was taking place in New York, so he was quite busy. No problem. I sent him an e-mail. Still no reply. Four days later – the CMJ Festival long over – he didn't get in touch until after I left messages with his colleagues. Only then did he return my call and told me to submit another request for a band interview via e-mail. I did so immediately. Another five days passed before Brent even
confirmed that he received my request. He told me that he'd be in touch as soon as he received word from Dredg's management . . . and I never heard from him again.
The deadline was approaching fast, and Dredg would be in town in less than 48 hours. I left several voicemails asking for
any follow-up re: whether or not I should secure studio time with my program director, but Brent still refused to return my calls. (This over a period of three days – one voicemail for each day.) After speaking to his colleagues once again (this seemed to be the only way to forward messages to him), he finally got back to me.
I'd been left on the backburner for a month – it was time to tell Brent how I felt about his work ethic. Simply put, I told him that it was unprofessional. He never returned my calls, never replied to my e-mails and doubled my workload as a result. After all, communication is the backbone of our business. When you fail to communicate, everything goes to hell. Now here we were, a month's work down the toilet, and all because one person refused to do any follow-up.
Naturally, Brent wasn't too happy with my critique. A heated argument ensued. He said that I needed to be more patient. I told him that after working on this for a
month(!) – and now with less than 48 hours left to prepare – I needed to know if this interview was going to happen or not. In an attempt to avoid responsibility for his rude behavior, he said that he shouldn't even be dealing with me, that I was supposed to have my music director contact him. I reminded him that he agreed long ago to do business with me. Still attempting to write me off, he informed me that my request was never a priority because our radio station never tracked the band's new album. I quickly demanded to know what that had to do with my request. After all, I'm not the music director, I'm just a volunteer DJ. And since when do bands care whether or not we put them on a Top 10 list? We actively promote them on our radio show as well as our professionally-designed web site (
www.BFNinYourEars.com) – shouldn't that be enough to schedule an interview?
Finally, with nowhere left to turn, he castigated me for getting in touch with other people at the label – for "involving them in things that aren't their concern." I told him that I wasn't trying to harass his colleagues; I just wanted to speak with his boss. Brent quickly retorted – and I quote – “You obviously don't get it.
I DON’T HAVE a boss. There's
NO ONE else above me.
I DON’T answer to
ANYONE! ”
Mr. Reineke, are you seriously going to tell me that the
college rep of Interscope Records answers to
NO ONE?
NO ONE at all? Is it really possible that Jimmy Iovine, Steve Berman and/or Brenda Romano just decided to relinquish the controls and let the
Assistant to Promotions (Brent Reineke’s official title in the label’s directory) assert his power as he sees fit? 'Cause that sounds like a stretch, but, hey, that's just me . . .
Anyway, knowing that he had the upper hand simply because I had yet to find anyone at Interscope who could direct me to a supervisor, Brent informed me that he and the artists represented by the label were no longer interested in doing business with me – now or anytime in the future. He was correct in that doing business with him was no longer viable. (Seriously, what's the incentive?) As for the artists . . . I wasn’t really sure that I would even want to promote their music if this was how their label treated DJs like me.
To summarize, I made my request, and it got swept aside. I tried to keep in touch, but no one was there to respond to my calls. I was ignored every step of the way in this process –
THAT'S unprofessional! And before you hastily point out that college reps have a lot on their plate and that requests are denied all the time, let me fill you in on the events that followed my heated argument with
your inept college rep:
Back at square one, I decided to give the Dredg interview one last shot. (I'd wasted this much time already, what was another hour or two?) After one last search online, I finally got my hands on the contact info for the band's management – something that had eluded me this entire time. I sent management an e-mail explaining my predicament . . . and they
gladly arranged for an on-site interview with Gavin Hayes, lead singer of Dredg. Simply put, Michele Abreim of The MGMT. Company
kindly(!) green-lighted my request in
TWELVE HOURS. Brent Reineke had
TWO WEEKS to do his job and all he came up with was contempt. (Is it me, or is there something wrong with this picture? 'Cause I'm pretty damn certain that it's
not me.)
So, that's my story. And my complaint. Do with it as you see fit. I'm not looking for an apology. I'm not asking for favors or special treatment. I just wanted to inform you about what's going on at your label. You have the right to know when communication has fallen to the wayside, Mr. Reineke. After all, you're
“the guy in charge,” and you have a big business to run as well as a lot of radio stations to bully. Good luck.
Sincerely,
Justin Velander Holt
"Bob Dubilina"
BFN Networks
P.S. Oh yeah, if you want to hear my interview with Dredg,
GO HERE![/u][/url] If interested, you can also scroll down and find the link to a discussion thread that documents this entire snafu (including this letter). Enjoy!
