Could you talk about the registrations
for the show- 2020 vs 2019
One of the interesting things about The NAMM
Show is that, as an association, it is our members
that come to the show. So, from a registration
and attendance standpoint, there is an allotment
of badges that the members receive and then
they decide who should attend. We can only
accept about 115,000 registrations because of
the facility we are in. We are confined by the
space. It’s an interesting challenge for us to
make sure that the right people come together.
Could you throw some light on the
Education part of NAMM Show
To me, a gathering like the NAMM Show
requires three essential elements. Like for fire,
you need fuel, oxygen and ignition. So, in a
similar way for a show like NAMM, we need:
New, exciting products. Roughly the entire show
is about 1.8 million sq.ft of whole new products
from exhibiting members, and these exciting
products drive the industry forward. Second,
education. It is the idea that every participant
in the industry regardless of the role they play,
some are artists, some are engineers, and some are
content producers, and others making equipment
but all want to get better at what they do. We want
all of them to get better at their craft, become
certified and in some cases, safer, with safety
training. And thirdly, it’s fun. The show is full of
concerts, parties and when you walk through the
lobbies of the hotels, you see your friends and to
me, is where life-long friendships are formed.
How does NAMM support companies in
releasing new products at the show?
It is an interesting concept. Entrepreneurs,
innovators, and creative people that are bringing
new products need more than anything else,
is a stable, reliable, and predictable platform.
The NAMM Show offers these innovators
a place to launch something that they have
created. If to go way back, the Edison Company
was a NAMM member and launched many
new products at the NAMM Show.
Also, things change in distribution. The
relationship between manufacturers, distributors
and retailers continues to evolve, and more
information is available to the consumer now
than ever: Magazines, influencers, bloggers,
artists are very knowledgeable about products
these days. They learn about the show here
and share it with their peers back home.
The time between product launch and when
it’s virtually known around the world has
reduced drastically. Creating media centers,
blogger lounges here, inviting YouTube key
influencers are so important and this was
not true ten years ago. And this illustrates
how much has changed in one decade.
I often wonder what the next decade is going to
bring us and what are we going to be talking about
in the year 2030. First of all, I will be greyer and
older, and we will be looking back and saying
‘Wow, wasn’t the 20s an amazing decade?!’
Over the years, you added Pro Audio & Event technology
to the show. How has the response been?
The NAMM Show is a platform and every year,
we start with a blank piece of paper and we ask
ourselves, ‘what type of an event we should build?’
Over the years that I’ve been with NAMM, I’ve
thought carefully about my own career. I was a
drummer, a recording artist, I toured, worked
in music retail, taught drums, installed systems
when I was a tour and production manager and
hired all the lighting and sound crew. I realized
that many people did that or are still doing that.
What we realized was that, even with the members,
if they are retailers or owners of companies,
or manufacturers, they still probably play an
instrument and are avid music makers. We
tried to build an event that reflected the fact
that many of us have had different roads and
have arrived at a career in music doing many
different things. This is your show whether you
are a music retailer, manufacturer, music teacher,
sound engineer, tour manager or anyone in the
music industry. At the heart of it all, there is
Music. That is a glue that ties us all together.
What are your plans for India?
I believe that the Indian population has a deep
love for music and a deep musical culture, in
my opinion that creates a huge opportunity for
everyone involved. Music bring people together
and music and art can play an important role
in solving many of society’s challenges.
The
Score Magazine
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