If you are a musician in these modern days , you have most likely heard of NAMM . For any newbies , here it is in a nutshell : Over 1,000 brands of musical instrument and pro audio gear makers gather at the Anaheim Convention Center to exhibit their products for three full days . 60,000 plus people are there to participate in different roles as buyers for their retail outlets , press , artists , and exhibitor staff .
That sounds huge ( and it is ). However , pre- COVID , the number of exhibitors was even larger , and the crowds were 115,000 . This has led to many discussions online by folks who believe that the days of NAMM are over . They state that the big three guitar makers ( Fender , Gibson , and PRS ) are not there , and Roland / Boss isn ’ t there either , so it must be that the sky is falling . I read a few of these discussions , and it struck me as odd that many of these folks have only attended NAMM a few times , and they didn ’ t seem to have a relationship with leaders inside of the non-profit NAMM company themselves .
Yamaha ’ s Night of Worship photo : Urianh Ortiz @ precision _ pmm
Although it is true that COVID has taught many manufacturers that they need to do business a different way and some companies choose not to spend the money to attend NAMM as an exhibitor ( a point that is well taken as it can be costly ), many other companies who did attend saw the benefit of it . Perhaps not being in the shadow of some of the other brands gave them some much-needed sunlight . Some have new products that need to come to market ; some don ’ t and will wait until next year when they do to return .
Toby Mac and band on stage photo : Urianh Ortiz @ precision _ pmm
Every company ’ s story and NAMM experience are different . I get that . But here is my story : This was my 41st time walking through the doors of the Anaheim Convention Center . The first ten times I came , it was as the manager / buyer for The Carpenter Music Store in Lomita , CA . I had the privilege of taking a Christian record store and adding on to it a whole layer of being a fullfledged musical instrument store . We served the local church musicians , but also , because our prices were so good , we had a following of non-Christian musicians who would buy their
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