Randy_Lennox

Randy Lennox

Randy Lennox

Canadian music and media executive


Randy Lennox is a Canadian music and media executive and CEO of LOFT Entertainment.

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He has served as president and CEO Universal Music Canada and president of Bell Media, Canada's largest Music label and media company respectively, working very closely from day one in developing internationally renowned Canadian artists like The Weeknd, Drake, Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber, Nelly Furtado and Alicia Cara and creating original content for television and film.

Lennox has been described by U2's Bono as a "music maven turned telecommunications mogul," and "a man without whom American and Canadian music would certainly not be the same" by Gene Simmons of Kiss.[1]

He is the talent chair and executive producer of Canada's Walk of Fame and served as chair of the Massey & Roy Thomson Hall's Board.[2] In January 2019, he was named the chair of the board for the Banff World Media Festival.[3]

Lennox has been featured 4 times on Toronto Life Magazine Top most influential list. In 2017 he was awarded the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the 2017 Juno Awards and was recently named Canadian media executive of the year by Playback magazine.

Career

Universal Music Canada

While at Universal, Lennox notably produced Big Shiny Tunes, the #1 best selling album series in Canadian history[4][5] and Oh What a Feeling: A Vital Collection of Canadian Music, a Canadian-focused compilation to celebrate the Juno Award's 25th Anniversary and the first-ever Canadian box-set to be certified diamond for sales of over one million copies.[6]

In 1998, Universal Music Canada merged with Polygram Canada and at age 36 Lennox appointed as company's president,[7][8][1] and then in 2001, president and CEO.[9][10] Under Lennox, Universal Music Canada developed many Canadian artists like Justin Bieber, Drake, Sam Roberts, Alessia Cara, The Tenors, The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes, Nelly Furtado, The Tragically Hip, Shania Twain, Diana Krall and Bryan Adams.[11]

While Lennox was CEO, Universal Music Canada was named Music Company of the Year for 16 consecutive years at Canadian Music Week.[12]

Bell Media

In 2015, Lennox joined Bell Media as President, Broadcasting with a five-year mandate to produce and secure exclusive rights to the premium international content while exporting such content to other markets.[13][14] New markets included musicals with Bat Out of Hell a rock opera based on the Meat Loaf album that ran in London, Toronto and New York,[15] a reality tv competition serines with The Launch, and the TV adaptation of web-comedy Letterkenny as well as numerous music-focused documentaries.

Lennox also signed partnerships with iHeartMedia and the Just For Laughs comedy festival,[16] Lennox bolstered Bell Media's library with international partners including Lionsgate, Pinewood Studios, Starz,[17] Vice Media[18], TIFF, Netflix[19], BNN Bloomberg,[20] Jeffrey Katzenberg,[21] HBO[22] and HBO Max.[23] He also formed partnerships with internet radio broadcaster iHeartMedia and the Just For Laughs comedy festival.[16]

In 2017, Lennox was appointed overall president of Bell Media[24] and took responsibility for "strategy and operations for conventional, pay and specialty television, radio, digital media, out-of-home advertising and special projects."[25]

In 2018, Lennox rebranded relaunched the CraveTV service as Crave, for the first time ever unbundling Bell Media's content library being a Bell wireline customer and HBO Max's first international launch partner. In interviews Lennox has described a responsibility to meet customer expectations,[26] and his plan to attract new subscribers with exclusive world-class original content by producing it in house and patterning internationally.[27] The service would grow to nearly 3 million subscribers over the next 2 years.[22]

In 2019 he led Bell Media's majority acquisition and subsequent expansion of Toronto's Pinewood Studios. This deal created an additional 200,000-square feet worth of production space for Pinewood[28] and Toronto's $2 billion film and television industry.[29]

In a pair of 2021 interviews with Playback Magazine[30] and FYI Music News,[31] Lennox reflected on his tenure at Bell media and revealed that his love for documentary and TV productions had grown to match his love for music and he would be continuing to produce all three working independently.

LOFT Entertainment

In 2023, Lennox co-founded of LOFT Entertainment Inc, a Music Management and Television Content Company [citation needed] to produce documentaries, films, TV shows and music, drawing from his longstanding relationships in the entertainment industry.

Charitable Fundraising

Throughout his career, Lennox has used his influence to create deals that raise funds for charitable organizations.

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Lennox is also a director of the Smilezone Foundation, an organization that donates play zones to hospitals and paediatric care facilities, and sits on the board of CARAS MusiCounts.[42][43]

Credits & Awards

To date as producer Lennox has won 8 Canadian Screen Awards, 2 Juno Awards, and an Emmy Award.

Albums & Singles

Also in 2010, Lennox won a Juno Award for "Single of the Year" for producing Wavin' Flag[44]

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TV & Film

Lennox also co-produced the 2019 filmwithand Lennox green lit Letterkenny and as well as dramas including Cardinal, Transplant and Frontier.

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Documentary

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Other

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References

  1. 2017 JUNO Awards' Gala Tribute to Randy Lennox, 2017-04-17, retrieved 2018-01-18
  2. "Banff World Media Festival Names New Board Chair (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
  3. "Randy Lennox". IMDb. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  4. "How Big Shiny Tunes Defined CanRock". www.vice.com. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  5. LeBlanc, Larry (29 Mar 1997). "Billboard Magazine 29 Mar 1997".
  6. Strauss, Neil (December 21, 1998). "A Major Merger Shakes Up the World of Rock". The New York Times.
  7. Dickie, Mary (February 1, 2008). "Reinventing the music biz: Universal Music Canada's Randy Lennox". Strategy. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  8. LeBlanc, Larry (29 Dec 2001). "Billboard 29 Dec 2001".
  9. "Toronto's 50 Most Influential People: Randy Lennox | Toronto Life". Toronto Life. 2015-11-19. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  10. Bailey, Katie (13 June 2016). "Randy Lennox makes his mark at Bell Media". Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  11. "Randy Lennox, Bell's 'Content Guru'". FYIMusicNews. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  12. "Bat Out of Hell - The Musical". www.show-score.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  13. Littleton, Cynthia (2018-01-23). "Starz Expands Into Canada With Bell Media Pact". Variety. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  14. Bailey, Katie (November 16, 2015). "Discovery's Frontier pushes int'l boundaries with Netflix". Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  15. "Quibi Acquires Daily News, Sport Shows for Canadian Service". The Hollywood Reporter. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  16. Wilner, Norman (2018-11-01). "Canadians can finally stream new HBO shows without a cable subscription". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  17. "Bell Media juggling executives as president leaves for job at NFL". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  18. "BCE names Randy Lennox new President of Bell Media". BNN Bloomberg. Reuters. 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  19. Pinto, Jordan (June 28, 2021). "Randy Lennox lines up next gig; launches new production shingle". Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  20. "Randy Lennox Aspires To 'Elevate'". FYIMusicNews. 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  21. "Randy Lennox". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  22. Billboard. 1996-12-28.
  23. Kielburger, Marc & Craig (January 5, 2015). "Finding hope in Haiti". Vancouver Sun.
  24. "Canadian artists wave flag for Haitian relief". The London Free Press. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  25. "Food Banks Canada". FOODBANKS. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  26. "Showtime: On The Fly With Bell Media President Randy Lennox". FYIMusicNews. 2020-04-24. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  27. "Scarborough and Rouge Hospital unveils 'Smilezones'". InsideToronto.com. 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  28. "MusiCounts Celebrates 20th Anniversary". MusiCounts. 2017-02-13. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  29. Clarke, Stewart (2018-02-22). "Sony Prepares 'The Launch' for International Take Off". Variety. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  30. "Ratings No Laughing Matter For Jann Arden's New TV Series". FYIMusicNews. 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  31. "Hulu secures U.S. rights Jann Arden's semi-autobiographical sitcom". thestar.com. 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  32. "Buffy Sainte-Marie to reflect on music and activism in upcoming documentary". wellandtribune.com. 2021-09-24. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  33. Avrich, Barry (2020-09-18), Oscar Peterson: Black + White (Documentary, Biography, History), Jon Batiste, Daniel Clarke Bouchard, Measha Brueggergosman, Melbar Entertainment Group, retrieved 2024-04-30
  34. Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On (2022) - Awards - IMDb. Retrieved 2024-04-30 via www.imdb.com.
  35. "Maclean's, 2/18/2002, Vol. 115 Issue 7, p40, 2p".
  36. Thompson, Robert (January 19, 2010). "Randy Lennox To Be Honored At Canadian Music Week". Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  37. "Randy Lennox to be inducted to the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame" (Press release). Canadian Music Week. January 18, 2010. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  38. "Toronto's 50 Most Influential People: Randy Lennox | Toronto Life". Toronto Life. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  39. "The 50 most influential Torontonians of 2018". Toronto Life. 2018-11-15. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  40. "The 50 Most Influential Torontonians of 2019". Toronto Life. 2019-11-21. Retrieved 2019-11-21.

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