Widely Attended NAMM University Sessions at Music China Offer Educational Insight and Best Business Practices

NAMM International offered nine tailor-made NAMM University sessions at the recent Music China show in Shanghai to a standing room only crowd. Presented by industry experts, these educational sessions and best business practice seminars saw a major increase in participation since their Chinese debut seven years ago.

“I think NAMM University is an excellent platform for professional study with wonderful speakers and topics,” said Huang Maoqiang, head of the Retail Subcommittee of the China Music Instrument Association. “There are not only Chinese industry leaders who deliver lectures aiming to solve the urgent questions for Chinese retailers, but also international speakers focusing on long-term issues and providing their advanced insights and expertise.”

NAMM University opened the Music China program with a bilingual Industry Forum that explored the diversity of consumer needs. Paul McManus, chief executive of the UK Music Industries Association, offered insight on the international music industry markets over the last year. Zeng Zemin, from the China Musical Instrument Association discussed characteristic and future trends in the China market and Ian Harvey, executive director of the Australian Commercial and Entertainment Technologies Association, delivered a keynote on International Music Days and events.

Photo caption: Participants in the CMIA NAMM MI Forum at Music China, pictured from left to right: Zeng Zemin, Secretary General of CMIA; Paul McManus, Chief Executive of MIA UK; Ian Harvey, Chief Executive ACETA Australia; Betty Heywood, Moderator, Direc of int’l affairs NAMM; Mr.Bei Zhaojian, vice director-general of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture Radio & TV (guest of honor); Mr Shi Shaobin,  General Manager of Pearl River Piano Group Co. Ltd; Mr Liu Weiming, President of Tianmu Music; Mr Chen Jiantong, General Manager of Roland China.

A variety of How-To sessions were taught by industry experts and NAMM members, including How to harness the power of print music: traffic builder, revenue generator, and critical tool for creating life-long musicians presented by Doug Lady, Senior Vice President of Hal Leonard Corp. Chip Averwater, owner and chairman of Amro Music Stores, offered a session on How to avoid mistakes made by US retailers. Other speakers included leading Chinese retailers such as Qin Chuan and Zhou Zhou. All sessions are developed specifically for the Chinese market and mirror NAMM’s commitment to enabling peer-to-peer training.

NAMM University at Music China saw 1730 participants enrolled in nine sessions for an 8 percent increase over 2011. These sessions are produced with support from NAMM, Messe Frankfurt and Intex with organizational support from the China Music Instrument Association (CMIA).