NAMM 2016

Business and Lifestyle, Entertainment — By Angela Johnson on February 2, 2016 at 3:13 am

By Angela Johnson and Elise “Hollywood” Evans

The 2016 NAMM  Show (National Association of Music Merchants) at the Anaheim Convention Center was teaming with musicians, marketers, producers, songwriters, music educators and all manner of music-related professionals, every type of contemporary and classical instrument you can imagine, and musical accessories galore.

The NAMM theme of “The Music Begins Here: Opportunity, Community, Profitability” was certainly personified by nearly 100,000 attendees, more than 1600 exhibiting companies and 100+ countries and territories represented, with more than 150 seminars, events, and performances all vacuum packed into four days, January 21 – 24, 2016.

Music and money-making was in the air of the cavernous convention hall where around every corner I heard a screeching guitar, thumping bass,  horns blaring, and drums beating. It was almost too much to take in all at once. We did our best, though.  NAMM Show feels like a huge party with music-making, educating and business dealings all rolled into one jamming good time.

Between the big out-door NAMM Nissan Grand Plaza Stage, NAMM CenterStage Presented by Pioneer DJ,  NAMM’s Hilton, Marriott and Sheraton Acoustic Stages, and miscellaneous mini and micro performance platforms throughout the entire conference space, there was a cornucopia of opportunities to see and hear who and what’s next musically speaking and revel in LIVE music.

As we browsed the horn section of the conference floor, featuring sellers of all manner of brass instruments and accessories, we stumbled upon a spontaneous funky jam between a tuba toting, hefty brother holding down the bottom with a mean rhythm, a tall slender Latino putting a funky line, I mean stank, on top, and a more mature trumpeter, faint hint of gray showing, interweaving the just-right accent here and there. I had already walked by, but the jam got to cooking and caught me in mid-stride, stopped me in my tracks. Before I knew it, my head was bobbing and some other would-be passers by stopped and enjoyed the session, too. This was great on-site advertising for the merchandiser in front of whose booth this all happened.

The Future of A&R, Your YouTube Channel: Tips, Tricks and Analytics, Ways to Increase Your Sales with EBay and Reverb.com, Succession Planning, Making Money Making Music, Millionaire Mindset for Music Professionals, Video Storytelling: Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool, Proven Instagram Tips to Build Your Customer Base, How to Win on Google, The Mobile Web: Get Into Your Customer’s Pocket, Intellectual Property Roundtables: Trademarks, Intellectual Property Forum: Protect Your Brand are only a small representation of how on-point and on-trend the informational and educational seminars were.

Staying up on what’s now and next in the music industry, helping music pros succeed (make better music, more efficiently, more profit , reach more clients)  is what this conference is all about. The key is having an action plan and set goals for why you are attending and what you aim to accomplish; if not, it is so easy to be distracted by the whirlwind of activity surrounding you.

In the Shure booth, journalist and singer Elise “Hollywood” Evans, had the chance to try some of Shure’s equipment. She raved about the product. “Something about that “Ear Candy” keeps us coming back to Shure,” said Elise “Hollywood” Evans. “My very first introduction to professional microphones was a Shure SM58. And like a child addicted to sugar, I salivated over the clarity, durability and affordability.  Visiting the Shure booth at NAMM 2016 was like floating down a chocolate river into a fudge room of sweet innovation. At the listening station, I got a taste of the latest ear treats and was there for the unveiling of KSM8 DUALDYNE. This is the world’s first dual-diaphragm dynamic handheld microphone for revolutionary vocal reproduction and accurate sound-reinforcement and control. Here are the ingredients, silky smooth sound with extended exceptional noise reduction, high frequency response, diaphragm stabilization to protect against shock and impulse, and the ergonomic outer handle is smooth a velvet. The KSM8 is now my favorite lollipop!!!”

NAMM is THE place to be no matter what you do in music.

Special thanks to Jeanne O’ Keefe and her staff for assistance with this article.