January 11, 2010
I've been doing some reading lately. Specifically, I have been reading about a company called A&R Unlimited. I do not like what I have seen, and from what I know of them I believe them to be an extremely shady operation at the very least. Some would even go far as to call them a scam.
I do not disagree with this assessment.
So who are A&R Unlimited? Aside from being the presence behind a rather badly-designed website, they present themselves as an "independent consulting firm", as well as a promotions and marketing company geared toward aspiring muscians. Now you may be thinking, "Chris, you're not a musician." This is indeed true; my musical talents do not extend far beyond singing (badly) along with music on my iPod, and dancing (worse, some might say "spastically") to everything from the music on said iPod, to the beat made by drips from a just-turned-off shower head hitting the bathtub floor.
That being the case, your next thought would probably be something along the lines of, "Well since you're not a musician, what business do you have with A&R Unlimited?" Good question! As of a few weeks ago, the answer would have been "none" not only because I would have been too busy badly singing and twitch-dancing, but because I am - as I've mentioned - not a musician.
I do, however, have friends. And it just so happens I have a friend named Jim, and it just so happens that Jim is a very talented musician. I have seen him play many times and I have sang along with his songs and we have frolicked in fields together. (Okay not that last one. I think we've both seen photos of fields though. And Jim goes outside a lot, so he may have actually been to one.)
Anyway, we've established that I'm not a musician and that I've never done business with A&R Unlimited. However since Jim is a musician, he would have far more relevance to A&R than I would. And being the super music man he is, he does.
As a result, A&R contacted Jim to try and pitch their services. Turns out Jim didn't like what they were offering or how it was presented to him, so he declined their services and shortly thereafter posted his impressions of them based on his experience. It being a negative experience (contacting him on his cellphone without his permission and refusing to address how they got his contact information, attempting to sell a service that he believed isn't really worthwhile, and being less than up-front about their methods and practices), his expressed views of A&R Unlimited were understandably negative.
After Jim posted his opinion, the events that followed pretty much defined what A&R Unlimited is all about. Not only did A&R Unlimited CEO Joann Gullo reply directly to Jim's post with a series of ridiculous, argumentative comments about why Jim is wrong and her company is the cat's pajamas (including a personal insult directed at him about how it's "a shame" that he has so much time on his hands to write about his experience, nevermind the five lengthy comments she submitted in response to his post), she also shoehorned in the implication that what Jim was doing was somehow illegal.
Ah yes, that old shtick. Like so many uninformed corporate bullies before her, Joann decided that since she didn't like what Jim was saying, then clearly he was breaking the law. (Her cluelessness is further evidenced by the fact that Jim had been accused of slander, when libel would have been a more accurate yet equally baseless accusation.) Of course we know that all of this is bullshit anyway. Every sane and rational American citizen with even a passing familiarity of the First Amendment knows that Joann is talking out of her ass.
Herein lies the problem with A&R Unlimited and it is also where my opinion enters the picture. To put it succinctly: Legitimate companies do not threaten you with lawyers when you express negative opinions about their operation.
Following up Joann's comments to Jim's post, A&R Unlimited's legal representation sent Jim a cease and desist order, making various demands of him as a result of their displeasure with what Jim had to say. Jim, being the type of person who enjoys writing about various things and experiences, couldn't have been happy at such a request. However in the spirit of cooperation, he edited his post to adjust a few words here and there while still preserving his core message.
That wasn't good enough for A&R Unlimited, though. Despite the edits, Jim's view of them remained honest and honesty is unacceptable in the eyes of A&R Unlimited, so their legal team applied more pressure. They demanded more edits, and went as far as to insist that he remove their company name from his post altogether.
Let me stop you right there, dear reader. Imagine a company so ridiculously wound up over its image that rather than spending its time actually performing the services and doing the business in which it alleges to be an industry leader it instead, through both its CEO and the expense of legal representation, spends its time relentlessly pestering an independent musician for simply expressing a negative opinion about them on his website.
Jim's dance with A&R is drawing to a close, and I'll let him fill you in on its conclusion. On my side I'll end by suggesting that if you're a musician and A&R Unlimited is under your consideration as a potential business partner, ask yourself if a company with such shaky leadership and obnoxious business tactics is a company to whom you would feel comfortable giving your money and entrusting with your image and representation as a musician, and as a person.
I sure as fuck wouldn't.
(13:43)
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