Photo Credit: Ben Houdijk/ShutterstockAaron Frank client Greta Van Fleet in concert on 27-30 June 2019 at Rock Werchter Festival, Belgium.
Two prominent artist management agencies are joining forces in an effort to create “a new standard of excellence” for their businesses.
Q Prime announced Wednesday (May 3) that it’s joining forces with manager Aaron Frank to form a new division known as Q Prime AF.
Nashville-headquartered Frank and his team manage a host of well-known artists, including Greta Van Fleet, Marcus King, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Houndmouth and All Them Witches.
Frank and his agency, AMFM, will now fall under the umbrella of Q Prime, which is headquartered in New York, but also runs divisions out of London (Q Prime UK) and Nashville (Q Prime South).
Q Prime co-founder Peter Mensch began his career in the 1970s, managing rock band AC/DC. In 1982, he joined with Cliff Burnstein to form Q Prime.
Over the years, Q Prime’s artists have included Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Snow Patrol and Jimmy Page.
Its first client was Def Leppard, and its current roster includes Muse, Cage The Elephant and Foals (managed by Q Prime UK).
Burnstein and Mensch are regularly included in the Billboard Power List “for their influence and leadership within the music industry overall,” the company said in its announcement Wednesday (May 3).
“Cliff and Peter are the reason I became a manager… They have always been the gold standard of managers in my eyes, and their independent spirit and savviness is unmatched.”
Aaron Frank, Q Prime AF
“Cliff and Peter are the reason I became a manager,” Aaron Frank said.
“They have always been the gold standard of managers in my eyes, and their independent spirit and savviness is unmatched. I’m so excited to merge with their amazing team to elevate our work, and excited for what we can build together at Q Prime AF.”
“Eight months or so ago, over lunch, Cliff and I decided that we needed to move Q Prime past the normal standard of management company rating: Gold, platinum standard just wasn’t enough.”
Peter Mensch
“Eight months or so ago, over lunch, Cliff and I decided that we needed to move Q Prime past the normal standard of management company rating: Gold, platinum standard just wasn’t enough,” Mensch said in a statement.
“We wanted to establish a new standard. Tantalum, a rare earth precious metal found in eight countries and an absolute necessity in the digital world, totally fit the bill.
“Luckily for us, Aaron, with his group of amazing artists, had a similar vision and, under the theory that the modern age needed a new standard of excellence, agreed to merge to create the Tantalum standard of management companies. Therefore, we give you a true partnership: Q Prime and Q Prime AF.”
The new venture follows a number of other mergers and alliances in the artist management business, including the merger earlier this year of Vector Management and Canadian indie record label and management firm Black Box Music.
In June 2022, California-headquartered Three Six Zero acquired a 50% stake in London-based Palm Artists, with the two firms working together going forward.
Months later, Three Six Zero announced a partnership with Forward Motion Artists, the management agency run by Jazz Spinder. The company’s various partnerships have given it a larger roster of talent that includes Will Smith, The Streets and Gorgon City, among many others.
