Los Angeles-based Lonny Olinick joined Kobalt Music Group as SVP, Strategic Business Development in May 2016 – and within two years was running Kobalt’s entire recorded music division, including AWAL.
In fact, Olinick impressed so much as Kobalt he was actually promoted twice in two years: first to Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) in 2017, and then to CEO of Kobalt Recorded Music (including AWAL) in 2018.
Lonny Olinick: Career before Kobalt
Olinick began his career in the music business at BMG in 2003, before moving to Sony Music as part of the 2005 merger between the two companies.
Olinick was Manager of Global Marketing at Sony for artists including Kings Of Leon and Usher, before leaving in 2006 to found his own music biz consultancy, Artist Alliance Entertainment.
Between 2011 and 2015, Olinick worked with/at consultancy firm Bain & Company, starting as a Consultant before being brought in as a Manager in 2014.
At Bain, Olinick led his team to identify $200 million in R&D and operations savings at major biotech companies.
After a spell as a VP and GM at laundry startup Rinse – where he oversaw expansion and a Series A funding round – Olinick returned to music with Kobalt in 2016.
Lonny Olinick: Growth of AWAL
After taking up responsibility as CEO of AWAL, Lonny Olinick has spearheaded a company that grew 86% in the 12 months to end of June 2019.
In August 2020, AWAL announced that hundreds of independent artists on its books were now earning over $100,000 per year from streaming alone.
Olinick told Music Business Worldwide: “Artists are looking for the opportunity to stay independent, the opportunity to own their rights, and the opportunity to create the art that they want – without a ceiling on what’s possible.
“The $100,000 figure is important, but the most important figure here is that multiple millions of dollars are flowing into the system, which is encouraging artists to take a different approach.”Music Business Worldwide