Henry Alonzo, 09级MBA
亨利·阿朗佐，09级MBA 2018年度杰出校友, founder of Adarga Entertainment Group, grew up near Mariachi Plaza in East Los Angeles. There, he listened to the mariachi bands play and offer their services to passers-by. 今天, 阿朗佐推广了一些拉丁音乐界最大的乐队, 在他的帮助下, 他的客户获得了七项拉丁格莱美奖.
“我把我的成功归咎于康科迪亚，”阿朗佐说. “They were very instrumental in helping me think in a business mind.”
我把我的成功归咎于康科迪亚，”阿朗佐说. “They were very instrumental in helping me think in a business mind.
Adarga, 这是一个古西班牙语，意思是“盾牌”,” is a ten-year-old company that has succeeded well beyond its contemporaries. In addition to helping build the careers of chart-topping music artists, Adarga在论坛上制作或联合制作了活动, 靖国神社, 微软剧院等.
阿朗佐从未将自己视为音乐家或表演者. 他说:“我是那种会阅读所有内页注释的孩子。. “I knew that this producer produced that other album, and this mixing engineer did that other album.”
他的父母在70年代中期从危地马拉移民过来, 亨利总是被广场上的墨西哥流浪乐队所吸引.
“我经常看到他们走来走去. 他们看起来就像穿着制服的将军。. “他们有自己的接收线. 人们开车经过，分发名片.”
作为一个青少年, Alonzo began to consult with artists about how to reach their audiences, 尤其是通过社交媒体. At the time, the music industry was imploding due to online file sharing.
“唱片公司不做艺人发展, 市场营销和商业服务,他说. “他们只是想维持生计. 但仍有服务需要提供. 我看到了机会.”
He started his own record label while still in college—and learned some painful lessons in a hurry.
“I didn’t understand cash flow, overhead, quarterly revenue statements or whatever,” Alonzo says. “我太乐观了，我们在赔钱. 我不知道如何让企业成长和运作. 我辜负了很多相信我的人.”
失败的痛苦, 他全力以赴完成他的本科学位, 然后在娱乐行业做了一系列的工作, 先是在一家倒闭的独立唱片公司, 然后在一家电影公司接电话.
He knew he wanted more education and “needed to learn entrepreneurship,他说. 于是，他开始寻找MBA项目.
“I considered a lot of schools and connected with someone at Concordia,他说. “They were so nice and easy to talk to and answered all my questions right away. When I went to visit the campus I said, I think this is the place for me.”
He began to diagnose his real-life business experiences in classroom discussions, 并从别人的经验中学习, 太.
“I remember one presentation on telecommunications by a classmate who worked for Sprint,他说. “It was amazing what he was teaching us about towers and all of that. It fed my desire to explore the bigger business context I was going to come into.”
While in his first semester in 欧文康考迪亚大学's MBA program, 他决定重新开公司. This time he wanted to create what he calls “a non-record label record label,” meaning he would not produce albums but provide services to support and develop artists.
“我没有和任何人分享. 我只是在重新考虑这个想法，”他说. “我和妻子都在读研. 我们太累了. 我们会在晚上出现，然后在沙发上睡着. 第二次，我不想让任何人失望.”
这个行业看重的是决心，而不是才能。. “我在咖啡店看到很多有才华的人. If you are determined and talented, you will make it as an artist.
欧文康考迪亚大学 helped him differentiate “my dream and what’s actually feasible,他说. In a particular statistics class he began studying statistics for his industry.
“我把自己埋在那里，”他说. “Mr. Poldova helped me understand what was happening in this industry so I could have a more educated approach on how to start this.”
另一门课的重点是管理费用和收入流, lessons which became foundational to how Alonzo runs his company.
他表示:“Adarga长期以来一直是一家以现金为基础的公司. “这有助于我们公司的发展. 如果我们负担不起，我们仍然不会去做.” After finishing his MBA degree and launching his new company, positive results came quickly. Within a few years, a band he helped develop, Tercer Cielo, was nominated for a Billboard award. 这为阿朗佐赢得了参加颁奖典礼的机会.
“我到处去看名人, 我收到另一个州的朋友发来的短信说, “你现在在电视上. 我在看你走红毯. 看着镜头，’”阿朗佐回忆道. “我说，什么相机? 有50个.”
另一个里程碑是米尔·圣·马科斯, a Latin Christian band which Adarga helped rise to one of the top groups in their genre.
“圣马科斯就像拉丁的Hillsong，”阿朗佐说. “他们的视频在YouTube上有数百万的浏览量. We released an independent album which went to #1 on iTunes Latin, 击败马克·安东尼, 夏奇拉, 伊格莱西亚斯. 他们获得了西班牙年度最佳唱片奖. 那是职业生涯的亮点.”
Adarga负责艺术家的所有社交媒体平台, 市场营销, 出版, 合同, 和更多的. 这让乐队有更多的时间创作音乐、制作专辑和巡演.
“My philosophy is that success comes from a lot of things that went right, 还有很多事情出错导致的失败,阿朗佐说。. “要发行一张专辑，你必须同时做二十件事. We make sure they’re booked on interviews, their social networks are up to par. We take care of 出版 and protect their intellectual property. We make sure nobody is claiming to own the song and collecting royalties on it on YouTube or the radio. 我们做流媒体，授权.
We make sure their online image is impeccable, their bio is current. 他们想做的就是和粉丝们分享音乐. 我们通过这些步骤来照顾他们.”
当然，这其中的一个主要部分是乐队的在线形象.
“We make sure their image and everything is pointing to that new release,” Alonzo says. “So when I Google an artist and find an abandoned 推特 account from two years ago, 对我来说，你现在是个无关紧要的艺术家. 我确保所有的社交网络都是整合的.”
Adarga also develops artists with broader, strategic career planning. 克里斯汀·D 'Clario, 拉丁基督教艺术家, worked up from small venues in central California to coliseums. One live-streamed concert trended on 推特, a sign of high popularity. 她的专辑获得了拉丁格莱美奖提名.
"这个行业看重的是决心，而不是才能。. “我在咖啡店看到很多有才华的人. If you are determined and talented, you will make it as an artist.”
阿隆索把荣誉归于他的团队. There are six people in his company, each with various strengths. He also still draws on his education from 欧文康考迪亚大学.
I created an Excel spreadsheet in a class and used it for many years,他说. “这类事情非常重要. 还要了解销售. 我记得Dr。. 布鲁斯·汉森谈论如何推销一个想法? 甚至我们公司的座右铭也是在康科迪亚诞生的.
"I created an Excel spreadsheet in a class and used it for many years,他说. “这类事情非常重要. 还要了解销售. 我记得Dr。. 布鲁斯·汉森谈论如何推销一个想法? 甚至我们公司的座右铭也是在康科迪亚诞生的.座右铭:“提升你的才能和创造力。.”)
Adarga still acts like a startup “because we’ve been very cautious,” Alonzo says. “在音乐行业，我们看到许多公司来来去去.”
The company continues to serve artists and record labels with industry-leading services. Integrity Music聘请Adarga负责拉丁发行. A few months ago Sony Music asked them to market a mariachi album they were releasing, 这是阿朗佐第一次拍这种类型的电影.
"Talk about full circle,他说, referring to his memories of Mariachi Plaza. “Now I’m a consultant with Sony, working this album of my childhood genre. I get to live this dream of being an entertainment entrepreneur. 我被格蕾丝伏击了.”