How This Entrepreneur Built a Defiantly Local Music Label Inside Orlando-based Omega Music.
By Luis Jorge Rios Edited by Dan Bova
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Music may be the food of the soul, but the music industry is generally regarded as one of the toughest environments to conduct business. Competition is at an all-time high, and the climate keeps shifting from moment to moment. Entrepreneurs who can thrive in this heat deserve recognition and praise.
For serial entrepreneur Emmanuel Almonor (AKA Manny McLaren), music has always been close to his heart and it lives in the very core of his being. This is why he decided to also make it the center of his career.
Starting from scratch
What has now become Omega Music Label started as a simple arrangement of taking local artists out to clubs and other venues to perform. Almost single-handedly, McLaren went ahead and created a bubbly ecosystem around the Orlando music scene.
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McLaren's work transcends creating music for mainstream consumption. "A major challenge for us is getting people to take Orlando artists seriously," he explains. "As an upcoming act, nobody wants to support you until you move to LA and get famous. We want to change that and help local artists get the recognition they deserve."
With this thought process in mind, Omega Music was born. A music label dedicated to the cultivation of young artists, helping them develop to a level where they can be accepted by larger music labels. This, in turn, furthers the artist's career.
However, Mclaren assures that creating such an ambitious firm was not easy. Building Omega Music Label was undoubtedly a combination of hard work, dedication, and a lot of failed attempts. In spite of this, McLaren shares that the results have been quite rewarding.
In addition to helping multiple artists kick start their careers and rise to stardom, creating the Omega Music Label has granted Mclaren the opportunity to partner with numerous A-list artists such as Tyla Yaweh and Nav. Through the help of these A-list artists, the Omega Music Label averages millions of streams on various music outlets.
Striking a balance
McLaren and his team at Omega Music are working tirelessly to redeem the faith of fans in the local Orlando music market. However, doing stereotype-defying work typically comes at the cost of maintaining a balance between work and life. These are some of the lessons and habits that have followed McLaren throughout his life and career.
Always be happy
McLaren is the first person to admit he is driven by success. In fact, he expresses this in his own words, "Everything about success motivates me."
Related: 10 Essential Tips For a Long and Lucrative Music Career
However, he always makes sure that no matter what he earns or achieves, he is always happy. "If I feel like I'm losing myself, I take a step back and make sure everything is going the way I want it to," he states.
Save money
From a very young age, McLaren developed the habit of saving money. This meant sacrificing a lot of short-term pleasures, learning to be patient and delaying gratification, but it all paid off to give him better results in the long run. It always pays off in the end, so he advises upcoming entrepreneurs to inculcate discipline and train themselves to be patient.
Meet new people
Building the right connections is very key in life. Even if you don't have any business now, you will need that network later. For McLaren, his network has been extremely crucial to his business success. "Everything I have now is from a slight connection I made with someone," he remarks.
Learning from your mistakes is huge
Everything in life is about trial and error. Manny was able to grow and scale his business very quickly because he learned from his own mistakes and improved his methods. "You have to take everything you learned from failure to help you gain your future success," he advises. Never dwell on your past. You can't fix what has gone wrong by stressing it, so let the past go and live in the moment.
Wait for your opportunity
Your time is going to come. Until then, be patient. "I've learned that everyone is on different timelines to success," McLaren says. "The important part is to remember that and not compare your journey to anybody else's."
Don't forget to put your all in
The real work begins after success. When you have succeeded at everything you set out to achieve, you have to hold yourself up there.
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"No one will hold you up, so work hard and don't slack. I've seen people go from rags to riches, but I've also seen it all taken away. The only reason you can lose everything you struggled to build is if you get complacent and forget why you wanted to succeed in the first place," McLaren shares.
Through Omega Music Label, McLaren has set his sights on making sure local Orlando artists do not have to leave for California, Georgia, or other states to become successful in music. From McLaren's story, we learn the value of perseverance, sheer hard work, and steering your ship against the norm.
