NAMM 2016 Anaheim

The 2016 National Association of Music Merchants show in Anaheim just wrapped up with a drum roll and cymbal crash. This “must attend” show for anyone in the music industry set new attendance records and was truly the most exciting show in the association’s 115 year history.

Iconic Exhibitors:  Altamira Music and Augustine Strings
Iconic Displays was proud to support two music industry leaders at this show. Altamira music and Augustine Strings both had standout booths which featured their strong product lines.

NAMM Show Continues to Grow

As the music industry continues to grow so has the number of exhibitor’s attending the annual NAMM show in Anaheim. This year’s show featured a record 1,176 exhibitors representing over 6,000 different brands. The energy from these exhibitors filled the exhibit hall with life and sound and made it a don’t miss event for for music industry buyers worldwide.

The number of registered attendees for the show was a record shattering 101,736 including 15,915 international registrants. The attendees included a mix of buyers, retail store employees, musicians, music educators, and exhibitors. This year’s exhibitors reported that buyers were weren’t just window shopping with strong order volumes reported from the show floor.

Cool Stuff. 

For anyone into music NAMM is the best place to see the new “cool stuff”.  This year’s show was no exception with a variety of new analog synthesizers being introduced into the keyboard market. According to Mike Adams, President of Moog Music, a leading provider of cutting edge synthesizers, “The analog synthesizer is a big thing”. In the fretted instrument market we’re seeing a comeback in the electric guitar.  In general electric instrument growth is starting to catch up with the growth of acoustic instruments.

Mingle with the Stars.

As usual, this year’s NAMM show had a lot of star power.  Only at NAMM do you have to possibility of standing next to a music legend while he or she tries out the latest cool gear. The show got off to a great musical start with Ukelele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, Annie Clark, and Graham Nash all sharing the same stage.  Legendary singer songwriter Graham Nash entertained the crowd with many great stories from his storied 50 year music career.  He also stressed the importance of keeping music education in our school system and keeping it fresh.  Other stars at the show included “Weird Al” Yankovic, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Don Was, and even Chaka Kan.

Next Up.

The next NAMM show is the “Summer NAMM” show which is held in Nashville Tenn on June 23-25th.  The NAMM show returns to Anaheim on Jan 19-22 in 2017.