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Randy Lennox

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Randy Lennox
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)Music and Media Executive, Producer
Board member ofBanff World Media Festival, Music Canada, Canada's Walk of Fame, Roy Thompson Hall, Massey Hall, Smilezone Foundation

Randy Lennox is a Canadian music and media executive and is the founder and CEO of LOFT Entertainment.[1] He previously served as president and CEO Universal Music Canada and president of Bell Media, Canada's largest music label and media company respectively.

At Universal, Lennox signed and developed many internationally renowned Canadian artists including The Weeknd, Drake, Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber, Nelly Furtado and Alicia Cara.

At Bell Media he oversaw original content for television and film production as well as expansion into new markets including musical stage productions. He also unbundled CraveTV from Bell Canada's wireline service.

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. He was awarded the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the 2017 Juno Awards. He 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.[4]

In June 2024 it was announced in Billboard Magazine that Lennox's LOFT Entertainment, in partnership with US-based sports & real estate company Oak View Group, was buying Canadian Music Week.[1]

Career

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Universal Music Canada

[edit]

While at Universal, Lennox notably produced Big Shiny Tunes, the #1 best selling album series in Canadian history[5][6] 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.[7]

In 1998, Universal Music Canada merged with Polygram Canada and at age 36 Lennox appointed as company's president,[8][9][4] and then in 2001, president and CEO.[10][11] 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.[12]

While Lennox was CEO, Universal Music Canada was named Music Company of the Year for 16 consecutive years at Canadian Music Week.[13]

Bell Media

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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.[14][15][16] 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,[17] a reality tv competition series 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,[18] Lennox bolstered Bell Media's library with international partners including Lionsgate, Pinewood Studios, Starz,[19] Vice Media,[20] TIFF, Netflix,[21] BNN Bloomberg,[22] Jeffrey Katzenberg,[23] HBO[24] and HBO Max.[25] He also formed partnerships with internet radio broadcaster iHeartMedia and the Just For Laughs comedy festival.[18]

In 2017, Lennox was appointed overall president of Bell Media[26] and took responsibility for "strategy and operations for conventional, pay and specialty television, radio, digital media, out-of-home advertising and special projects."[27]

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,[28] and his plan to attract new subscribers with exclusive world-class original content by producing it in house and patterning internationally.[29] The service would grow to nearly 3 million subscribers over the next two years.[24]

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[30] and Toronto's $2 billion film and television industry.[31]

In a pair of 2021 interviews with Playback Magazine[32] and FYI Music News,[33] 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

[edit]

In 2023, Lennox co-founded of LOFT Entertainment Inc, a Music Management and Television Content Company[1] to produce documentaries, films, TV shows and music, drawing from his longstanding relationships in the entertainment industry.

In 2024, in partnership with Denver-based sports entertainment venue developer Oak View Group, Lennox acquired Canadian Music Week[1] in order to "expand programming, enhance venues and offer unique engagement opportunities for artists and fans."[34]

Charitable Fundraising

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Throughout his career, Lennox repeatedly created deals as fundraisers for charitable organizations.

Year Title Amount Raised Charity / Cause Notes & References
1996 Oh What A Feeling $8.2 million MusiCounts and War Child Sold 250,000 units in its initial limited 75 day release window[35][36][37]
2010 Young Artists for Haiti >$2 million 2010 Haiti earthquake disaster relief Lennox organized the supergroup including Drake, Justin Bieber, Nelly Furtado and Avril Lavigne that recorded a cover of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" [38][39][40]
2020 Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble $8.6 million Food Banks Canada Largest broadcasting event in Canadian history, a coalition of 100 broadcast partners saw all competing Canadian companies working together to raise disaster response funds for the 2020 covid 19 pandemic in the form of a 90 minute commercial free event. The special was assembled in just 12 days, with participants filming their own segments at home and final mastering and mixing being done the day before broadcast.[41][42][43]
2023 Feel Out Loud Kids Help Phone Partnered with 50 Canadian artists to create and produce What I wouldn’t do: North Star Calling as part of mental health awareness campaign.[44]

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.[45][46]

Credits & Awards

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

Albums & Singles

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Year Title Partners Notes
1996 Oh What A Feeling Canadian Record Labels, Artists & Juno Awards The first-ever Canadian box-set to be certified diamond for sales of over one million copies.[7]
1996-2009 Big Shiny Tunes Canadian Artists The #1 best selling album series in Canadian history[5][6]
2010 Wavin' Flag Bob Ezrin and Gary Slaight Raised over $2m for 2010 Haiti earthquake as part of supergroup and won a Juno Award for "Single of the Year" for producing Wavin' Flag[47]

TV & Film

[edit]
Year Title Partners Notes
2016 The Launch Scott Borchetta, Big Machine Records Co-created and produced along with Insight Productions the original reality music competition franchise, The Launch, a new format that was picked up by Sony Pictures Television for international distribution.[48][49]
2016 Frontier Jason Momoa, Netflix
2017 Cardinal Based on Cardinal book series by Giles Blunt
2019 Jann Canadian Singer-Songwriter Jann Arden Was most watched Canadian series of 2019 and comedy of the year.[50][51] In 2020 Hulu acquired US distribution rights.[52]
2019 The Song Of Names Clive Owen & Robert Lantos [53]
2020 Canada’s Drag Race
2020 Transplant
2023 This is Pop Netflix
2023 Rock & Roll Machine Triumph

Documentary

[edit]
Year Title Partner / Subject Notes
2017 Long Time Running Tragically Hip Won 2018 Directors Guild Of Canada Award, Excellence in Directing[54]
2017 Home Town Neil Young Neil Young performs his first ever concert at Coronation Hall in his hometown of Omemee, Ontario. The special invite-only event took place in December 2017, and was in attendance by about 225 people.
2019 Once Were Brothers Robbie Robertson Co-produced with Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, and Brian Grazer. Was the first ever opening of TIFF 2019 by a Canadian documentary[55]

Won 2020 Best of the Fest, Palm Springs International Film Festival[56]

2019 David Foster: Off the Record. David Foster Won 2020 Best of the Fest, Palm Springs International Film[57]
2020 Black and White Oscar Peterson Won 2022 Canadian Screen Award, Best Direction, Documentary Program[58]
2022 Carry It On Buffy Sainte Marie Won 2023 Emmy for International Arts[56]

Won 2022 Directors Guild of Canada, Excellence in Documentary[59]

Other

[edit]
Year Award Institution / Publication Notes
2002 Most Influential Canadians Maclean's Magazine [60]
2010 Induction into Hall of Fame Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame Part of Canadian Music Week[61][62]
2014 Label Executive of the Year Worldwide Radio Summit [63]
2015 50 Most Influential Toronto Life [64]
2017 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award 2017 Juno Awards In recognition of his contribution to the growth and development of the Canadian music industry[65]
2017 Media Executive of the Year Playback Magazine [66]
2019 50 Most Influential Toronto Life Magazine Fourth time featured on the list [67][68]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Decter, Rosie Long (3 June 2024). "Canadian Music Week Acquired by Loft Entertainment & Oak View Group as Founder Neill Dixon Retires". Billboard Canada. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Bell Media's Randy Lennox to Receive 2017 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at Juno Awards". Billboard. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Banff World Media Festival Names New Board Chair (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b 2017 JUNO Awards' Gala Tribute to Randy Lennox, 17 April 2017, retrieved 18 January 2018
  5. ^ a b "Randy Lennox". IMDb. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  6. ^ a b "How Big Shiny Tunes Defined CanRock". www.vice.com. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Randy Lennox To Be Honored At Canadian Music Week". Billboard. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  8. ^ LeBlanc, Larry (29 March 1997). "Billboard Magazine 29 Mar 1997".
  9. ^ Strauss, Neil (21 December 1998). "A Major Merger Shakes Up the World of Rock". The New York Times.
  10. ^ Dickie, Mary (1 February 2008). "Reinventing the music biz: Universal Music Canada's Randy Lennox". Strategy. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  11. ^ LeBlanc, Larry (29 December 2001). "Billboard 29 Dec 2001".
  12. ^ "Toronto's 50 Most Influential People: Randy Lennox | Toronto Life". Toronto Life. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Past Winners | Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards". cmw.net. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  14. ^ Bailey, Katie (13 June 2016). "Randy Lennox makes his mark at Bell Media". Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  15. ^ "Randy Lennox, Bell's 'Content Guru'". FYIMusicNews. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  16. ^ "Bell Media hires former Universal Music Canada CEO Randy Lennox to head entertainment unit". Financial Post. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Bat Out of Hell - The Musical". www.show-score.com. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  18. ^ a b "Bell Media among group acquiring Just For Laughs production company". Global News. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  19. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (23 January 2018). "Starz Expands Into Canada With Bell Media Pact". Variety. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  20. ^ "Bell Media signs licensing deal with Vice, hoping to draw new subscribers". Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  21. ^ Bailey, Katie (16 November 2015). "Discovery's Frontier pushes int'l boundaries with Netflix". Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  22. ^ "Bloomberg, Bell Media strike deal to rebrand BNN". Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  23. ^ "Quibi Acquires Daily News, Sport Shows for Canadian Service". The Hollywood Reporter. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  24. ^ a b Wilner, Norman (1 November 2018). "Canadians can finally stream new HBO shows without a cable subscription". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  25. ^ "Bell Media signs deal with HBO Max to strengthen Crave's streaming library". Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  26. ^ "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.
  27. ^ "BCE names Randy Lennox new President of Bell Media". BNN Bloomberg. Reuters. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  28. ^ "Bell doubles down on Crave with soft rebrand, premium service that includes current HBO content". Financial Post. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  29. ^ McLeod, James. "Bell bringing HBO Max streaming service content to Canada after signing long-term deal | The Guardian". www.theguardian.pe.ca. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  30. ^ "Pinewood Toronto Studios Begins Construction on Multi-Stage Expansion". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  31. ^ "Klingons in Toronto? Get set for the Pinewood Studios tour | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  32. ^ Pinto, Jordan (28 June 2021). "Randy Lennox lines up next gig; launches new production shingle". Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  33. ^ "Randy Lennox Aspires To 'Elevate'". FYIMusicNews. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  34. ^ Henderson, Lisa (4 June 2024). "OVG and Loft Entertainment acquire Canadian Music Week". IQ Magazine. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  35. ^ "Randy Lennox". IMDb. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  36. ^ "Randy Lennox to be inducted to the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hallof Fame". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  37. ^ Billboard. 28 December 1996.
  38. ^ Kielburger, Marc & Craig (5 January 2015). "Finding hope in Haiti". Vancouver Sun.
  39. ^ "Canadian artists wave flag for Haitian relief". The London Free Press. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  40. ^ "Canadian artists join in Wavin' Flag for Haiti". CBC News. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  41. ^ "Food Banks Canada". FOODBANKS. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  42. ^ "Where to watch the historic 'Stronger Together' special Sunday night". CTVNews. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  43. ^ "Showtime: On The Fly With Bell Media President Randy Lennox". FYIMusicNews. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  44. ^ "Kids Help Phone Launches Largest Youth Mental Health Movement, Feel Out Loud, to Address Crisis in Canada". Kids Help Phone. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  45. ^ "Scarborough and Rouge Hospital unveils 'Smilezones'". InsideToronto.com. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  46. ^ "MusiCounts Celebrates 20th Anniversary". MusiCounts. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  47. ^ "2011 JUNO Award Winners - The JUNO Awards". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  48. ^ "Scott Borchetta's Big Machine, Canada's Bell Media Ring Up Deal on New TV Talent Property". Billboard. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  49. ^ Clarke, Stewart (22 February 2018). "Sony Prepares 'The Launch' for International Take Off". Variety. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  50. ^ "CTV's JANN is the #1 New Canadian Series of the Year". Bell Media. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  51. ^ "Ratings No Laughing Matter For Jann Arden's New TV Series". FYIMusicNews. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  52. ^ "Hulu secures U.S. rights Jann Arden's semi-autobiographical sitcom". thestar.com. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  53. ^ Hatzitolios, Chloe. "Clive Owen WWII film 'The Song of Names' getting TIFF Gala Presentation". etalk. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  54. ^ Long Time Running (2017) - Awards - IMDb. Retrieved 1 May 2024 – via www.imdb.com.
  55. ^ White, Peter (18 July 2019). "Rock Doc 'Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band' To Open Toronto Film Festival". Deadline. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  56. ^ a b "Buffy Sainte-Marie to reflect on music and activism in upcoming documentary". wellandtribune.com. 24 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  57. ^ David Foster: Off the Record (2019) - Awards - IMDb. Retrieved 1 May 2024 – via www.imdb.com.
  58. ^ Avrich, Barry (18 September 2020), Oscar Peterson: Black + White (Documentary, Biography, History), Jon Batiste, Daniel Clarke Bouchard, Measha Brueggergosman, Melbar Entertainment Group, retrieved 30 April 2024
  59. ^ Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On (2022) - Awards - IMDb. Retrieved 30 April 2024 – via www.imdb.com.
  60. ^ "Maclean's, 2/18/2002, Vol. 115 Issue 7, p40, 2p".
  61. ^ Thompson, Robert (19 January 2010). "Randy Lennox To Be Honored At Canadian Music Week". Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  62. ^ "Randy Lennox to be inducted to the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame" (Press release). Canadian Music Week. 18 January 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  63. ^ "Worldwide Radio Summit Awards Results". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  64. ^ "Toronto's 50 Most Influential People: Randy Lennox | Toronto Life". Toronto Life. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  65. ^ "Bell Media's Randy Lennox to Receive 2017 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at Juno Awards". Billboard. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  66. ^ "Hitting a high note at Bell Media". Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  67. ^ "The 50 most influential Torontonians of 2018". Toronto Life. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  68. ^ "The 50 Most Influential Torontonians of 2019". Toronto Life. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
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