Music Software Developers Positioned for Growth

Software.NAMM will be buzzing with momentum at The NAMM Show

The future looks bright for music software developers exhibiting at The NAMM Show, as music downloads and self-recording trends are growing at an unprecedented rate, creating a large buying base.

The American public has developed a nearly insatiable desire for recorded music. Last year alone, they downloaded a staggering 2 trillion songs, according to data compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America. That works out to 62 songs for every man, women and child in the country. To put this growth into context, only 100 million songs were downloaded five years ago (NAMM Global Report, 2016, p. 280).

According to NAMM’s Global Report, a report that uses statistics provided by The Music Trades magazine and the U.S. Census Bureau, plug-ins and loops experienced the greatest growth in 2016 (14.29%) and over the course of the last 10 years (56.08%), earning a retail value of more than $30 million. There are many indicators that suggest this growth will continue and extend to other areas.

A Growing Market
For those unfamiliar with this growing market, music production software is used for the purpose of digital recording, music composition and electronic music creation. It is often referred to as digital audio workstation, or DAW. In total, the recording and computer music market consists of sound cards and related hardware; recording and sequencing software; as well as plug-in software and loops.

The emergence of this technology has lowered the financial barrier to entry for music producers, making professional recording accessible to a greater number of interested parties. Twenty years ago, it would have cost upwards of $15,000 in gear to professionally record a music album. Today, you can start producing music with a computer or digital device and an investment of a few hundred dollars in DAW software. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find a professionally produced recording that didn't utilize software. 

It’s no wonder the global music production software market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 9.01% during 2017 – 2021, according to the report, Global Music Production Software Market 2017-2012, by the market research firm, Technavio. They attribute this growth to three factors:

  1. The momentum of certain technology venders
  2. The growing number of live music events and independent musicians around the globe
  3. An increase in the availability of free online education resources

Ableton, Apple, MOTU, PreSonus Audio Electronics, Steinberg Media Technologies and MOTU are among the momentum-generating technology brands listed in Technavio’s report. They are also slated to be showcased at The 2018 NAMM Show, as part of the Software.NAMM community, in partnership with IMSTA, the International Music Software Trade Association.

Software.NAMM's curated collection
Software.NAMM is a collection of music software providers. It gives developers the unique opportunity to connect with an international buying audience through face-to-face meetings in an enclosed quiet space that is ideal for learning and experiencing quality demonstrations. With demo areas the size your local library study table, the price point to exhibit is considerably lower than a standard exhibit. It is a particularly attractive opportunity for any brand that wants to strengthen its standing or break into the market.

Boz Milar from Boz Digital Labs exhibited last year. As he said, regarding his experience, “Software.NAMM is great. Every time I go into another area of the show, I’m glad our community has been set apart. It’s quiet and there is a lot of good traffic—from what I can tell, they aren’t people looking for free stuff. They are generally interested in viewing software.”

The culmination of this growing industry with The NAMM Show, a tradeshow that attracts billions in buying power from around the world, can only mean that Software.NAMM will be an area of high interest at this year’s show. If there is growth to be had, The NAMM Show is a ripe opportunity for music software developers.

Don't get left behind! Space is limited at Software.NAMM so reserve your spot today. 

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Playback Blog/The Industry Crossroads