Q Prime, best known for decades for its artist management business, is making a name for itself as a company offering wider artist services – including distribution.
The firm, co-founded by Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch over 40 years ago, now handles distribution and ‘label’-type services for a range of artists including Metallica, plus Silversun Pickups, Declan McKenna, Brett Eldredge and more.
This week, Q Prime announced a legendary addition to this list: The Zombies.
Q Prime will be providing label services and distribution for the 1960s studio recordings from the iconic British band, who joined The Rock’n’Roll Hall Of Fame in 2019. (It’s understood that FUGA powers distribution for Q Prime’s services arm.)
Q Prime says it will manage all aspects of marketing, manufacturing, distribution and licensing for The Zombies’ new label imprint Beechwood Park Records, with a catalog that includes the timeless hit singles “She’s Not There”, “Tell Her No”, and “I Want You Back Again.”
Q Prime co-founder Cliff Burnstein said of signing the Zombies: “There’s a very narrow window in a Venn diagram where love, admiration and business overlap. That’s what the deal is all about.”
Plans now are underway at Q Prime for a series of four physical reissues from The Zombies in 2025, all remastered from the original tapes.
The first will be a remastered version of the classic Odessey & Oracle LP. Due out early next year, it includes the classic songs “Time Of The Season,” “Care of Cell 44,” and “This Will Be Our Year”.
“There’s a very narrow window in a Venn diagram where love, admiration and business overlap. That’s what the deal is all about.”
Cliff Burnstein, Q Prime
The album will be released in its original Mono mix, to coincide with the release of The Zombies’ documentary, Hung Up On A Dream, directed by musician and filmmaker Robert Schwartzman, and co-produced by Schwartzman’s Utopia Films, The Ranch Productions, and Tom Hanks’ Playtone.
The Zombies’ four surviving founding members, lead singer Colin Blunstone, keyboardist Rod Argent, bassist Chris White, and drummer Hugh Grundy, along with Helen Atkinson, the widow and Estate Trustee of late guitarist Paul Atkinson, acquired the rights to their catalog last year from Marquis Enterprises Ltd., the independent UK production company they originally signed with as teens in 1964.
Marquis had produced their early recordings, granting limited-term licenses to the labels that released their hits (Decca and CBS Records), and later turned over the production reins to primary songwriters Argent and White, who recorded Odessey & Oracle at Abbey Road Studios in London with a budget of just GBP £1,000.
According to Q Prime: ‘This made The Zombies an “indie DIY” band before the term even existed, and afforded them the opportunity to reclaim their recordings decades later.’
The deals that saw The Zombies recapture their copyrights were overseen by Chris Tuthill and Cindy da Silva of The Rocks Management, who together have represented the band for the past 11 years, along with attorney Monika Tashman of Loeb & Loeb.
“We went through a painstaking process to find a strategic partner who would truly understand the unique qualities of these beloved recordings,” said Tuthill, “and ultimately, we knew we had to stay true to the band’s history. They have always benefited from a non-traditional and independent approach to both music and business, which is one of the reasons their songs are continually rediscovered by new generations of fans.”
That’s when Zombies’ super-fan (and former MTV/VH1 and Sony Publishing exec) Rick Krim introduced them to Q Prime.
da Silva added, “We were incredibly impressed by the team and infrastructure that Q Prime assembled with their long-term clients Metallica to nurture and grow their own catalog, and their genuine desire to collaborate with us and the band to do the same for The Zombies. Most importantly, there are a lot of true fans on their team, most notably (Q Prime co-head) Cliff Burnstein, who like Rick (Krim), has been a long-time champion of the band.”
Q Prime has offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Nashville and London.Music Business Worldwide