Skip Maggiora Memorial Fund Donates $1,000,000 to The NAMM Foundation to Create New Retail Innovation Award

CARLSBAD, CALIF., January 21, 2026 – NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants), the largest global non-profit music trade organization and the NAMM Foundation have announced the creation of the Skip Maggiora Innovation Award, a new retail award to be given annually at The NAMM Show. Each year, the award will provide a $25,000 cash prize to a music retail member that supports projects focused on market creation and music education. The Maggiora Memorial Fund donated $1 million to The NAMM Foundation to endow this award in perpetuity.

The annual award will first be presented next year at the 2027 NAMM Retail Awards and bestowed to one qualifying recipient that’s selected in accordance with award guidelines. The NAMM Retail Awards spotlight the music industry’s best music product retailers and their strategies for success each year, as selected by a panel of independent judges.

Arthur “Skip” Maggiora, who founded Skip’s Music in Sacramento, Calif., revolutionized retailing within the music products industry. Partnering with NAMM, his innovative Weekend Warriors program brought global attention to the ‘Woodstock Generation’ of baby boomers music as a powerful opportunity for new and returning music makers. The success of the program and his willingness to share his ideas with other retailers resulted in hundreds of similar programs around the world. Along with Weekend Warriors, Skip’s Stairway to Stardom program offered pre-teens, teens and young adults opportunities to create musical performances in a live setting, as well as the ability to connect with other musicians. He truly saw music making as a life-long endeavor.  Skip’s Music opened in 1973 and over the years became a center of innovative retailing ideas and industry modernizations. He served on the NAMM Board of Directors and was a founding member of AIMM, the Alliance of Independent Music Merchant's. 

The Skip Maggiora Innovation Award will honor Skip’s legacy and inspire retailers for generations to capitalize on their unique role in creating new music makers and the benefits of giving back to their community, just as Skip did.

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