2003 NAMM Show Starts on a Positive Note

NAMM, the International Music Products Association, gave a warm California welcome to attendees of its annual winter trade show, as the sounds of The Beach Boys’ “I Get Around” filled the air at show opening, performed by the Fernand L. Petiot All-Industry Memorial Band. The 2003 NAMM Show, which began yesterday and runs through January 19 at the Anaheim Convention Center, features a record 1,311 exhibiting companies and is open to members of the international music products industry and media who cover musical instruments and products.

As the pace of business picked up on the show floor, NAMM University was in session, offering several courses throughout the day—all of which are free to NAMM Show attendees. Yesterday's curriculum included the keynote session, “Creating Distinctive Value—Quit Competing and Start Winning,” with Thom Winninger, among other courses designed specifically to help NAMM Members build their businesses.

Attendees tuned into the sound of savings and profit at the NAMM Member Success Center ,where representatives from NAMM-endorsed service providers were on hand to discuss business programs. The Success Center also provides information about market-building programs and the Museum of Making Music. Several events are scheduled in the center throughout the show, including a live “guitar workbench” where attendees can view the construction of an archtop acoustic guitar by music products industry legends and listen in on oral history interviews.

The show was also the site of a press conference featuring multi-Grammy nominee Vanessa Carlton, who announced the kickoff of the second annual USA WEEKEND/John Lennon Songwriting Contest for Teens, an exciting new element to enhance NAMM’s upcoming Music Edge teen initiative. The annual teen contest was designed to encourage middle- and high-school students to express themselves by writing song lyrics. Carlton, one of this year’s contest celebrity judges, said, “I was so pleased to be asked to be part of this … I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon than to support something like this.”

With the initial statistics in hand—including an increase the number of exhibiting companies as well as an increase in international registration—the mood of the show and the future of the industry can only be described as positive.

“They say you can judge the health of an industry by its trade shows,” said Joe Lamond, president and CEO, NAMM. “By that measure, the future of the music products industry looks very bright indeed.”

The 2003 NAMM Show continues today with a full schedule of events, artist appearances, NAMM University sessions and The 2003 NAMM Concert Honoring Sir Elton John: A Benefit for Music Education, presented by Yamaha.