About Ron Sweeney
Ron Sweeney is a prominent entertainment attorney, manager, consultant and former record executive who has managed major artists and practiced law for over forty years and who has purposely flown under the radar. He is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles (1975). He attended the University of Southern California Law school and graduated in 1978. He is licensed to practice law in the state of California. Born December 18, l953, he grew up in South Central Los Angeles and attended George Washington High where he excelled as a jazz/rock/R&B drummer. While in college, he worked for the Internal Revenue Service as a tax auditor of high net worth individuals.
He has done major deals for everybody from Clarence Avant, James Brown, Eazy-E, DMX, Sean "Puffy” Combs, to Lil Wayne and Young Money. He created Avant Garde Management and began representing the all girl band “Klymaxx.” Managing Klymaxx he learned personal management and traveled the world with the band. He also managed Morris Day and the Time, co-managed the pop band “Color Me Badd,” and others. In the early nineties he represented Eazy-E and Ruthless Records. He read Eazy-E’s statement on MTV announcing to the world that Eazy-E had Aids. Along with Eazy-E’s wife, he acted as co-trustees of Eazy-E’s estate. In 1995 he joined Sony Music as executive vice-president of Sony Music and executive vice president of Epic Records reporting directly to the Chairman of the company. He later became President of Epic Urban. He served on the Senior Management Committee which ran Epic Records Group, a Five Hundred Million Dollar Company at the time. With a Seventy Million Dollar yearly A&R budget, he interacted daily with the biggest stars in the business, including Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Boyz II Men. He was directly responsible for signing Ginuine, Rza’s Razor Sharp Records (Ghostface, Capadonna), Cameron, among others. While employed at Sony Entertainment, he gained a complete and thorough understanding of the worldwide music business.
Since exiting from Sony Music, he has continued to work on behalf of several entertainment entities, prominent artists and personal managers. With all artists and personal managers, his goal has been to teach them the record business and to teach them to “learn how to count.” His personal goal is to create “value” and “real ownership” for as many creative people as possible. “Creative people should own what they create.” He has been married to his childhood sweetheart for over 40 years and have two grown sons.