Randy Lennox

Randy Lennox
Nationality Canadian
Occupation President, Bell Media
Board member of CARAS, Music Canada, Canada's Walk of Fame, Roy Thompson Hall, Massey Hall, Smilezone Foundation

Randy Lennox is a Canadian media executive who is the president of Bell Media.

Prior to joining Bell, he was the president and CEO of Universal Music Canada, Canada's largest music record label, where he signed and championed internationally renowned Canadian artists. In 2017 he was awarded the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the 2017 Juno Awards and named Canadian media executive of the year by Playback magazine.

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]

Early life

Lennox had an early passion in music. At 10, he was playing guitar and his favourite band was The Beatles. At this same age, he would listen to the radio and evaluate the CHUM charts, calling the station and offering his own rankings. This interest in the music industry continued through his teenage years, with Lennox working at Toronto's iconic Sam The Record Man store.[2]

Career

Music industry

In 1998, when Universal Music Canada merged with Polygram Canada, Lennox had been serving as Universal Music Canada's General Manager. Following the merger, at age 36 he appointed as company's president.[3][4][5] In 2001 he was then promoted to president and CEO.[6][7]

At Universal, Lennox produced or executive produced a number of prominent albums and singles, including Oh What a Feeling: A Vital Collection of Canadian Music, Big Shiny Tunes, Wavin' Flag (as performed by the Canadian supergroup Young Artists for Haiti), and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Games Anthem. [8][9][10]

Under Lennox, Universal Music Canada signed many Canadian artists Justin Bieber, Drake, Hedley, Nickelback, The Tenors, The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes and The Tragically Hip among others while promoting long-time Canadian music icons like Shania Twain, Diana Krall, and Bryan Adams.[11] During this period Universal Music Canada was named 'Record Company of the Year' for 16 consecutive years at Canadian Music Week.[12]

Lennox is also involved with many organizations in the Canadian music scene: he is the talent chair and executive producer of Canada's Walk of Fame and is the chair of the Massey & Roy Thompson Hall's Board.[13]

With Bell Media

In August 2015, Lennox was named as Bell Media's first 'President of'Entertainment Production and Broadcasting' with a mandate to "bring some IP-based thinking," to the company.[14] This led to a number of investments in original productions across both familiar and new formats. New TV shows included The Beaverton, Cardinal, and Frontier. Documentaries, a new format, included Long Time Running, which featured Tragically Hip, and Home Town, a solo acoustic concert featuring Neil Young.[15] This expansion also saw Bell Media acquire a stake in the theatre production Bat Out of Hell The Musical.[16] Working with Big Machine Records' Scott Borchetta, Lennox also co-created and produced produced an original reality music competition franchise, The Launch, a new format that was subsequently picked up by Sony Pictures Television for international distribution.[17][18]

On February 27, 2017, Lennox was promoted to president of Bell Media following Mary Ann Turcke's departure to join the NFL.[19] In both his previous and current role, Lennox has described a core focus on "accentuating quality productions through partnerships"[20] in order to become more competitive in Canada and internationally. This led to a number of new licensing deals with U.S. radio company iHeartMedia, comedy festival Just For Laughs, children's television producer Wow Media Unlimited, Canadian-American production house Lionsgate and U.S television brands Starz, Vice Media and BNN Bloomberg.[21][22][23][24] Lennox also led Bell Media's acquisition of a majority share of Toronto-based Pinewood Studios and planned 330,000 square foot studio space expansion to address a scarcity of studio space in Toronto's $2 billion film and television industry.[25]

Charitable involvement

Along with industry veterans Bob Ezrin and Gary Slaight, Lennox organized Young Artists for Haiti, a supergroup that recorded a cover of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" as a charity single in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake raising more than a million dollars for disaster relief.[26][27][28]

Lennox is 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.[29][30]

Awards and recognition

References

  1. ↑ JUNO News Toronto (2017-04-17), 2017 JUNO Awards' Gala Tribute to Randy Lennox, retrieved 2018-01-18
  2. ↑ JUNO News Toronto (2017-04-17), 2017 JUNO Awards' Gala Tribute to Randy Lennox, retrieved 2017-04-21
  3. ↑ LeBlanc, Larry (29 Mar 1997). "Billboard Magazine 29 Mar 1997".
  4. ↑ Strauss, Neil (December 21, 1998). "A Major Merger Shakes Up the World of Rock". The New York Times.
  5. ↑ JUNO News Toronto (2017-04-17), 2017 JUNO Awards' Gala Tribute to Randy Lennox, retrieved 2017-04-21
  6. ↑ Dickie, Mary (February 1, 2008). "Reinventing the music biz: Universal Music Canada's Randy Lennox". Strategy. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  7. ↑ LeBlanc, Larry (29 Dec 2001). "Billboard 29 Dec 2001".
  8. ↑ "Randy Lennox". IMDb. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  9. ↑ "Randy Lennox". Discogs. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  10. ↑ "Bell Media taps music industry veteran to lead production, broadcasting". marketingmag.ca. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  11. ↑ "Toronto's 50 Most Influential People: Randy Lennox | Toronto Life". Toronto Life. 2015-11-19. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  12. ↑ "Past Winners | Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards". cmw.net. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  13. ↑ "Bell Media's Randy Lennox to Receive 2017 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at Juno Awards". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  14. ↑ "Randy Lennox, Bell's 'Content Guru'". FYIMusicNews. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  15. ↑ "Neil Young show to stream worldwide from Canada". ctv.ca. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  16. ↑ Long Time Running (2017), retrieved 2018-10-10
  17. ↑ "Scott Borchetta's Big Machine, Canada's Bell Media Ring Up Deal on New TV Talent Property". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  18. ↑ Clarke, Stewart (2018-02-22). "Sony Prepares 'The Launch' for International Take Off". Variety. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  19. ↑ "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.
  20. ↑ 13, Katie Bailey June; 2016. "Randy Lennox makes his mark at Bell Media". Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  21. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (2018-01-23). "Starz Expands Into Canada With Bell Media Pact". Variety. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  22. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (2018-01-23). "Starz Expands Into Canada With Bell Media Pact". Variety. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  23. ↑ "Bloomberg, Bell Media strike deal to rebrand BNN". Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  24. ↑ "Bell Media among group acquiring Just For Laughs production company". Global News. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  25. ↑ "Klingons in Toronto? Get set for the Pinewood Studios tour | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  26. ↑ Kielburger, Marc & Craig (January 5, 2015). "Finding hope in Haiti". Vancouver Sun.
  27. ↑ nurun.com. "Canadian artists wave flag for Haitian relief". The London Free Press. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  28. ↑ "Canadian artists join in Wavin' Flag for Haiti". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  29. ↑ "Scarborough and Rouge Hospital unveils 'Smilezones'". InsideToronto.com. 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  30. ↑ "MusiCounts Celebrates 20th Anniversary". MusiCounts. 2017-02-13. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  31. ↑ "Maclean's, 2/18/2002, Vol. 115 Issue 7, p40, 2p".
  32. ↑ Thompson, Robert (January 19, 2010). "Randy Lennox To Be Honored At Canadian Music Week". Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  33. ↑ "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.
  34. ↑ "2011 JUNO Award Winners - The JUNO Awards". Retrieved 2015-06-11.
  35. ↑ "Worldwide Radio Summit Awards Results". Retrieved 2015-06-11.
  36. ↑ "Toronto's 50 Most Influential People: Randy Lennox | Toronto Life". Toronto Life. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  37. ↑ "Bell Media's Randy Lennox to Receive 2017 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at Juno Awards". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  38. ↑ "Hitting a high note at Bell Media". Retrieved 2017-12-05.
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