| Randy Lennox | |
| Nationality: | Canadian |
| Occupation: | Music and Media Executive, Producer |
| Boards: | Banff 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.
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]
While at Universal, Lennox notably produced Big Shiny Tunes, the #1 best selling album series in Canadian history[4] [5] and, 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] 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]
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] [15] 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,[16] 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,[17] Lennox bolstered Bell Media's library with international partners including Lionsgate, Pinewood Studios, Starz,[18] Vice Media,[19] TIFF, Netflix,[20] BNN Bloomberg,[21] Jeffrey Katzenberg,[22] HBO[23] and HBO Max.[24] He also formed partnerships with internet radio broadcaster iHeartMedia and the Just For Laughs comedy festival.
In 2017, Lennox was appointed overall president of Bell Media[25] and took responsibility for "strategy and operations for conventional, pay and specialty television, radio, digital media, out-of-home advertising and special projects."[26]
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,[27] and his plan to attract new subscribers with exclusive world-class original content by producing it in house and patterning internationally.[28] The service would grow to nearly 3 million subscribers over the next two years.
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[29] and Toronto's $2 billion film and television industry.[30]
In a pair of 2021 interviews with Playback Magazine[31] and FYI Music News,[32] 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.
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."[33]
Throughout his career, Lennox repeatedly created deals as fundraisers for charitable organizations.
| 1996 | Oh What A Feeling | $8.2 million | MusiCounts and War Child | Sold 250,000 units in its initial limited 75 day release window[34] [35] [36] | |
| 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" [37] [38] [39] | |
| 2020 | Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble | $8.6 million | 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.[40] [41] [42] | ||
| 2023 | Feel Out Loud | Kids Help Phone | Partnered with 50 Canadian artists to create and produce as part of mental health awareness campaign.[43] |
To date as producer Lennox has won 8 Canadian Screen Awards, 2 Juno Awards, and an Emmy Award.
| 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. | |
| 1996-2009 | Big Shiny Tunes | Canadian Artists | The #1 best selling album series in Canadian history | |
| 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[46] |
| 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.[47] [48] | |
| 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.[49] [50] In 2020 Hulu acquired US distribution rights.[51] | |
| 2019 | Clive Owen & Robert Lantos | [52] | ||
| 2020 | ||||
| 2020 | Transplant | |||
| 2023 | This is Pop | Netflix | ||
| 2023 | Rock & Roll Machine | Triumph |
| Year | Title | Partner / Subject | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Long Time Running | Tragically Hip | Won 2018 Directors Guild Of Canada Award, Excellence in Directing[53] | |
| 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 | Co-produced with Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, and Brian Grazer. Was the first ever opening of TIFF 2019 by a Canadian documentary[54] Won 2020 Best of the Fest, Palm Springs International Film Festival[55] | ||
| 2019 | . | David Foster | Won 2020 Best of the Fest, Palm Springs International Film[56] | |
| 2020 | Black and White | Oscar Peterson | Won 2022 Canadian Screen Award, Best Direction, Documentary Program | |
| 2022 | Carry It On | Buffy Sainte Marie | Won 2023 Emmy for International ArtsWon 2022 Directors Guild of Canada, Excellence in Documentary[57] |
| Year | Award | Institution / Publication | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Most Influential Canadians | [58] | ||
| 2010 | Induction into Hall of Fame | Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame | Part of Canadian Music Week[59] [60] | |
| 2014 | Label Executive of the Year | Worldwide Radio Summit | [61] | |
| 2015 | 50 Most Influential | [62] | ||
| 2017 | In recognition of his contribution to the growth and development of the Canadian music industry[63] | |||
| 2017 | Media Executive of the Year | Playback Magazine | [64] | |
| 2019 | 50 Most Influential | Toronto Life Magazine | Fourth time featured on the list [65] [66] |