
The NAMM Show is recognized globally as the crossroads of the music, pro audio and sound, and entertainment technology industry. NAMM Member and new exhibitor MatchMySound used its inaugural NAMM Show to showcase its product while simultaneously uniting the industry to effect positive changes throughout the communities surrounding Anaheim.
MatchMySound attended its first NAMM Show in June. They are a new company that features guided practice technology solutions for all instruments, including guitar, piano, and voice. The team was excited to exhibit and introduce their music edtech to educators, retailers with lesson programs, and organizations. While at The NAMM Show, MatchMySound shared a booth with its sister company, RealTime Audio, another new-on-the-scene startup that offers a solution for latency problems facing musicians who want to jam remotely, in real-time.
During The 2022 NAMM Show, MatchMySound Marketing Director Jen Biasi saw an opportunity to positively impact the community by donating furniture used during the show to Habitat for Humanity. With a team and equipment spread out around the globe, Biasi recognized that instead of shipping furniture, the fiscally responsible move would be to buy furniture for their booth in California. Realizing that it would only be used for a few days, Biasi sought a way to give the items a second life with Habitat for Humanity.
Biasi reflected, “Habitat for Humanity is a deserving organization and the first non-profit that came to mind. With a safe place to call home, music can happen. MatchMySound adheres to this idea of building an accessible and joyful musical community, and I’m proud to work for them because of it.”
Habitat for Humanity is best known for providing housing solutions for the unhoused. However, the organization has numerous other programs that assist those in need, including disaster response, financial education protocols to aid homeowners, improving existing homes for the aging, revitalizing neighborhoods, and the Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter. The Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter develops functioning including housing markets across the world. Founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller, the non-profit now operates in over 70 countries. Habitat for Humanity has served roughly 35 million people by constructing, rehabilitating, or preserving homes since its inception and is the world’s largest not-for-profit builder.

As a result of Biasi’s and other NAMM Members’ efforts, after The 2022 NAMM Show, 105 pieces of furniture were loaded onto a truck and donated to Habitat for Humanity.
For more information on MatchMySound and Habitat for Humanity, please visit https://matchmysound.com/ and https://www.habitat.org/.

In April, Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd was one of over 200 organizations to be nationally recognized with the prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise for excellence in international trade.
Focusrite “believes in enriching peoples’ lives through music,” and they achieve their goal by manufacturing audio interfaces. For those unfamiliar, audio interfaces serve to pass audio from the musician to the computer and back out again, bringing recorded sound to the world. The manufacturer says, “The best interface should help you record your sound exactly as it is. It should be ready to go when you are, never skipping a beat. It should be easy to use, removing pointless technical barriers that get in the way of you enriching yours and others’ lives through music.”
The English music and audio products group began in 1985 and was founded by legendary audio pioneer Rupert Neve. Before the easy and affordable access to computers, Focusrite built consoles. One of the manufacturer's first contracts was a commission from Sir George Martin to build an extension to AIR Studios’ custom Neve console. In April 1989, audio industry entrepreneur and co-founder of Soundcraft Electronics Ltd, Phil Dudderidge, purchased the company and established Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd. With its continued expansion over the past four decades, Focusrite now houses eight brands, including ADAM Audio, Amplify Music, Focusrite, Focusrite Pro, Martin Audio, Novation, Optimal Audio, and Sequential and manufacturers analog EQs and channel strips, audio interfaces, consoles, digital audio processing hardware, and software, and microphone preamps.
Now in its 56th year, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the country’s “most prestigious business awards.” The 2022 program marked the fifth award received by Focusrite and the third acknowledgment the company received for “outstanding and sustained growth of their international sales.” The NAMM Member successfully “increased order volumes while dealing with disruption to deliveries and for growing their overseas orders by 145% in the six years, with top markets to include Austria, Australia, Benelux, France, Germany, North America, and South Korea. Of the recognition, Dudderidge said, “Thanks go to our amazing team in the UK and overseas for developing and selling the world’s leading audio interface brand, Focusrite, and sister brand Novation.”

With the award, Focusrite can use the Queen’s Emblem for the next five years. For more information on Focusrite, please visit https://focusrite.com/.

Since 1901, NAMM has been serving companies operating throughout the musical instrument industry. Today NAMM serves over 7,000 active member companies and is continuously seeking to expand its reach to better serve the music products industry and promote music-making.
Originally comprised of 52 members, the National Association of Piano Dealers of America was renamed in 1919 to the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) to represent the growing markets within the music products industry. Today NAMM is a nonprofit association that promotes the benefits and pleasure of making music and strengthens the $17 billion global music products industry.
Like the first decade of its existence, NAMM continuously strives to serve a growing and diverse marketplace. With the additions of the pro audio and live entertainment professionals within NAMM’s membership base, and innovations that have allowed for music-making to become more widespread, the organization is again broadening the scope of music makers it serves.
In 2021, NAMM opened its membership communities to include pro audio and live sound professionals, music educators, and other professional groups. This includes new and exciting membership opportunities and benefits and direct access for industry professionals to attend The NAMM Show, June 3-5 in Anaheim, California.
General Benefits of Membership: Besides attending The NAMM Show, individuals who become NAMM Members have year-round access to NAMM events, career-building professional development, networking, and resources. In addition, NAMM also represents the industry's most pressing issues in Washington D.C. and beyond, “advocating for free trade, informed regulations, funding for the arts and music education, and more.”
Educators: While The NAMM Show typically occurs in late January, The 2022 NAMM Show offers a unique opportunity for music educators to attend. NAMM is excited to offer educators their own path to membership via individual memberships. Not only will teachers kick off summer by heading to Anaheim June 3-5 and become inspired for the school year ahead alongside leading professionals but they will also have yearlong access to the invaluable resources that NAMM provides. Sessions of particular interest include the Music Education Days and its “Improv Comedy & Music Education,” “Rethinking Music Education in the Post COVID-19 World,” “The Grand Rally for Music Education,” and more. Please visit https://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2022/education/music-education-days for the complete Music Education Days schedule.
Pro Audio and Live Sound Professionals: Those who work in pro audio, from the emerging professional to the seasoned veteran, are invited to join NAMM as individual members. Whether you are a hobbyist, work within a house of worship, or are a full-time engineer, all are welcome to join NAMM and attend The NAMM Show. The 2022 NAMM Show is offering a wealth of events for the pro audio community, including training certification from Dante (additional registration required at https://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2022/education/dante), the Loud Speaker System Showcase (https://www.namm.org/exhibit/wn22/loudspeaker-system-showcase), NAMM TEC Awards (https://www.tecawards.org/), Pensado’s Place Residency at NAMM, the Pro Audio Pool Party, and dynamic sessions like “Get a Room: Recoding in a Commercial Facility Versus at Home,” “How AI is Changing EDM Production, Mixing, and Mastering,” and more.
Live Event Professionals: Those working within the realm of live events at any level or affiliation are welcome to join NAMM and attend The NAMM Show. The 2022 NAMM Show will offer a host of events geared toward your community, including educational sessions like “Loud: A Conversation with Tana Douglas, the First Woman Roadie,” “Show Stop: The One Agreement Everyone Must Agree On,” and “Working at Height Safely,” among others. Also included are education sessions with NAMM’s partners, the Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA) (https://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2022/education/esta), and Event Safety Alliance (ESA) (https://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2022/education/esa), the LSA/ESTA Welcome Reception, and the Parnelli Awards (https://parnelliawards.com/).
The best part of all of this is that your membership is included alongside your NAMM Show badge, ensuring that you have access to everything NAMM provides beyond The NAMM Show. NAMM Show badge fees help fund the work of The NAMM Foundation, which, through research, advocacy, and grants, helps to create a world with more music makers. For more information on individual memberships, please visit https://www.namm.org/attendee/articles/introducing-individual-membership, and to register for The 2022 NAMM Show, please visit https://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2022/badges.

Huber Breese Music will celebrate its golden anniversary at The 2022 NAMM Show. Founder Paul Huber will attend The NAMM Milestone Awards, which takes place only at The NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, June 3-5.
The annual NAMM Milestone Awards recognize Members who have made lasting contributions to the music products industry as they celebrate landmark anniversaries. The celebration culminates with NAMM CEO and President Joe Lamond and Music Historian Dan Del Fiorentino presenting the award at The NAMM Show. Each year, honorees are recognized at the NAMM U Breakfast session and commended for their generations of impact on the industry. “Showcasing more than just staying power, the companies that receive the NAMM Milestone Award often attribute their longevity to their active interest in their local communities and supporting music education. We are proud to honor them as we recognize their contributions to bringing music to the world,” says Del Fiorentino.

2022 marks the 50th anniversary for Huber Breese Music, and the retailer is ready to celebrate at The NAMM Show. In 1972, the brick-and-mortar store opened its doors to the community of Fraser, Michigan. The retail store specializes in electric and acoustic guitars, amplifiers and cabinets, drums and percussion, keyboards, folk instruments, and pro audio gear.
Huber and Breese first met in 1968 when Huber took a position at Mt. Clemens Music teaching guitar alongside Breese, who was teaching percussion. To test the resolve of their students, the store would provide aspiring guitarists with an instrument, and at the end of eight weeks, if they stuck with it, the store would then encourage students to purchase their own guitar.
After graduating from a year-long course on the art of guitar instruction from his mentor, Joyce Lucido, Huber took a position, and he and Breese became fast friends and bandmates. The duo would teach all day and gig at night, and in 1972, the store faced a daunting rent increase and was forced to close. Finding himself out of a job, Huber mentioned to Breese that he was thinking of finding his own space to continue teaching. Enthused by the prospect of continuing teaching, Breese joined Huber as the pair secured a small, 800-square-foot building. After some savvy negotiation with the current owner, the former laundromat became home to the pair’s new studio.
In just 24 hours, Breese and Huber enlisted the help of their band’s bass player and his brother and quickly erected four teaching rooms. On May 15, 1972, approximately 95% of the students from Mt. Clemens Music followed the teachers, and Huber Breese Music was officially open. After a year of operations, there was an opportunity to expand, and the pair decided to knock out an adjoining wall to make a band room and retail space.

Huber spearheaded the retail efforts starting with a small stock of strings, picks, and a few guitars, purchased from another local store. Within three months of beginning their retail efforts, Huber was grossing well over $3,000, an impressive feat for 90 days of receiving their first stock. By 1977, the team’s landlord offered to sell the building to the musical operation and expanded to add a second story, nearly doubling its square footage to approximately 3,200 square feet. Lesson participation continued to grow, and eventually, Huber Breese counted about 600 students enrolled in their programs.
The owners pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to achieve their dream, opening a music studio and retail space that now hosts over 1,000 guitars, over 50 drum sets, amplifiers, a full line of audio products, and keyboards, an instrument rental department, and 600 students. While Breese passed away just shy of the store’s 38th anniversary, Huber reflected on his keen business skills, saying, “We weathered many recessions and downturns because Terry kept a conservative approach to finances. I believe I drove him off the cliff a few times with the cost of my guitar orders.”

While Huber is still involved in the business, he has taken a step back, employing his son Hans, who has worked at the store for the past 23 years, to take the reins. Hans said, “I did feel the pressure to uphold the store's reputation as I started to work full-time. Today, I am more aware of my strong suits, and I invest in people that possess the passions and talents that I lack and therefore make the store more balanced than ever before. We are just getting started after 50 years, and I am looking forward to continuing to uplift our community and society through our services.”
The father and son team is excited to travel to Anaheim to receive their Milestone Award. “I remember going to Chicago for our first show and Gibson bringing Les Paul and Howard Roberts. We have met so many wonderful artists through the years, and we are ready to get back to the show and experience that once again,” says Huber.

For more information from Huber and Breese, please visit https://huberbreese.com/. Register for The NAMM Show at https://registration.namm.org/wn22/register?ms=nammorg_attend and attend the Breakfast of Champions, where the Milestone Awards will be presented on Saturday, June 4 at 8:00 a.m. inside the Hilton, Level 2, Pacific Ballroom.
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