Demonstrating a continued commitment to serve its community of professional audio members and attendees, The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) has announced it will feature DanteTM training and certification sessions at its annual Anaheim, California trade show, January 20-21. The sessions will be presented at the show by Audinate, and will offer attendees the opportunity to experience an intensive two-days of hands-on training as part of the company’s Dante Certification Program. As an added programming bonus, TEC Tracks at The NAMM Show will host a special “Introduction to Dante” session during its newly-announced Live Sound Day, Thursday, January 19. On that day, participants can learn more about the multi-channel, digital media networking protocol.

“One of our goals is answering the industry’s call of expanding learning opportunities within the professional audio markets,” commented Zach Phillips, director of professional development for NAMM. “Securing this opportunity for Dante Certification at the show is another demonstration of our commitment to offering added value for all of our audio professionals.”

“At Audinate, we are committed to the delivery of industry-leading training on audio networking and Dante,” shared Audinate Vice President of Marketing Joshua Rush. “To that end, we are excited to work with NAMM this year to offer – free - our popular Dante Certification Program.”

The on-site Dante Training Program will offer three educational courses beginning with the program’s “First Steps into Digital Audio Networking,” a 90-minute course recommended for those people who are brand-new to audio networking or are unsure if they should delve into a full Dante Certification course. The second course is the “Dante Training and Certification Level 1,” which is also 90 minutes and designed to provide a useful background in audio networking for audio professionals and does not assume any previous background in computer networking. The third course, “Dante Training and Certification Level 2,” is a three-hour course designed for intermediate to advanced Dante users and should only be taken once Level 1 has been completed.

Dante Training and Certification will take place on Friday, January 20 and Saturday, January 21 in the Laguna Meeting Room, located on the fourth floor of the Hilton Anaheim. Interested participants should plan to register early, as seating is limited. Please register to attend by visiting: https://www.audinate.com/namm17.

Earlier this evening at the Summer NAMM Show, NAMM honored the Top 100 Dealers and recognized seven with special category awards, including the coveted Dealer of the Year award.  The award recipients are as follows:

“As unique as the customers and locations they serve, the Top 100 honorees all have a bit in common:  a commitment to excellence in music product retailing, customer service, and in acting as music champions within their communities,” shared Joe Lamond, NAMM president and CEO. “We applaud their efforts, and those of all NAMM retail members that are creating positive and memorable shopping experiences which, in turn, help to foster the next generation of music makers.”

Dubbed the ‘retail Oscars’ by Music Inc. magazine, NAMM’s Top 100 Dealer Awards spotlights the industry’s very best music product retailers. To determine the list, an independent panel of judges reviewed hundreds of submissions that are rated across categories that include customer service, best store turnaround, music advocacy, marketing and sales promotion, store design, and emerging dealer, and are scored in accordance to determine the Top 100 list and special awards.

Congratulations to the Top 100 Dealers!

To view images of the event, please visit: http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/gyipa_public?nav=pr440295371

To learn more about the Top 100 Dealer Awards, please visit https://www.namm.org/summer/2016/top-dealer-awards

Summer NAMM is on its way to Nashville, June 23-25, and with it, a robust education program from NAMM U, the industry’s only professional development program. Featuring a series of excellent speakers, how-tos, and strategies, 2016 Summer NAMM will host the biggest ideas and best practices for those in music retail covering the hot topics of  marketing, store design, websites, music lessons, customer experience, finance and more.

NAMM U will officially kick off the day before show opening on Wednesday, June 22 with Retail Boot Camp: a one-day intensive training featuring two tracks, Sales and Marketing and Financial Management. Retail thought leader Doug Fleener and marketing guru Mike Coleman will present the Sales and Marketing track, covering topics such as driving the in-store sales experience and building a strategic marketing plan. On the financial management track, Alan Friedman and Daniel Jobe from Friedman, Kannenberg and Company will cover best-practices in financial management, risk management and inventory, and present a wealth of topics to make retailers and their staff more effective in day-to-day management.  

Thursday’s show opening NAMM U Breakfast Session, the “NAMM Retail Summit,” will be hosted by Joe Lamond, NAMM President and CEO, and will spotlight music retailers who’ve successfully made the Internet their own. At Friday morning’s Breakfast Session, marketing master Jeffrey Hayzlett will host a bold, no-nonsense session on getting better results with online and social marketing. On Saturday, the closing day of the show, the “Best in Show” Breakfast Session will reign supreme. Led by Music Inc.’s publisher, Frank Alkyer, retailers will share their picks for the hot products customers will be asking for in the fourth quarter. All Breakfast Sessions will start at 8:00 a.m. in the Davidson Ballroom of Music City Center and will be followed by sessions on a variety of retail-driven topics presented in a peer-to-peer setting starting every 30 minutes throughout the day at the NAMM Idea Center in booth 463.

Along with the exciting breakfast and Idea Center sessions, each day of the show will feature the latest techniques and technologies in recording and live sound through TEC Tracks. Studio legend Chuck Ainley opens TEC Tracks Thursday morning with a panel of studio engineers who will discuss how they navigate the rapidly changing recording industry. Audio industry guru Craig Anderton will cover how to get a computer to work for you — not against you — during the recording and songwriting process. Glenn Meadows, a Grammy-winning mastering engineer, will moderate a panel of mastering professionals, discussing the latest tools and technology they employ in pursuit of the ultimate sound. And on Saturday, A3E (Advanced Audio + Applications Exchange) will present The Future of Audio Summit, exploring disruptive innovations in music and audio. All TEC Tracks sessions will take place in booth 236.

Saturday at Summer NAMM will welcome music professionals with Music Industry Day. The NAMM Idea Center will showcase sessions and panels for artists, songwriters, musicians and producers with topics such as DIY Marketing for Musicians, The Targeted Hit Songwriter: Increasing Your Odds of Getting Cuts, and Songwriting Tips from Nashville Pros, among many other topics.

All NAMM U, TEC Tracks and Music Industry Day sessions are free and open to Summer NAMM badge holders.  To view all sessions, please visit: https://www.namm.org/summer/2016/educational-sessions

To register online for a badge, please visit: https://www.namm.org/summer/2016/badges

This week, 476 school districts across the United States are being recognized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation as among the Best Communities for Music Education (BCME), out of the nation’s 13,515 school districts. Now in its 17th year, BCME recognizes outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students and community leaders who work together to ensure access to music learning for all students as part of the school curriculum.

In addition, the NAMM Foundation also has recognized 118 schools across the nation with the SupportMusic Merit Award (SMMA), honoring individual schools that have demonstrated strong support for and commitment to music education.

The BCME and SMMA designations take on added significance this year due to the passage of the new federal education law in December 2015. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) designates music as a recommended subject and as part of “a well-rounded education.” ESSA shifts more control to the states and schools and encourages policy makers to give non-tested subjects such as music a more important role in the development of school curricula. 

“The schools and districts that the NAMM Foundation honors this year with this award demonstrate a commitment to supporting music education and assuring opportunities for music learning in the curriculum for all students,” said Mary Luehrsen of the NAMM Foundation. “We are moving from a time when curricula were narrowed due to pressure from testing and test-prep remediation to a broader view of what is important for all children. That includes access to a well-rounded education – and an opportunity to learn and grow with music and the arts. The schools and districts we recognize serve as models for other educators looking to develop standards-based music education programs. ”

The districts honored as Best Communities for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation include urban, suburban and rural districts.  Schools receiving the SMMA designation in 2016 include both public and private schools and range from elementary to middle and high schools.

Districts and schools recognized previously by the NAMM Foundation have reported that the honor has significantly increased interest in and support for their music programs. Many school leaders have indicated that the award has had a direct impact on funding for music programs. Almost all say that recognition of music programs helps to generate a greater sense of pride in the community and support for what their faculty is doing in the schools. In some cases this has resulted in increased monetary donations and volunteer support for school music programs.

"Music and the arts make a very positive contribution to the general success of the school and connection to the community,” said KU researcher and professor Christopher Johnson. “Access to music and the arts in the curriculum is important in its own right and connects students to their own personal expression and creativity. These activities also have been shown to contribute to lower dropout rates, higher graduation rates, higher ACT scores, and all the while, children learn the joys of music and all the life skills it fosters.”

The BCME program evaluates schools and districts based on funding, staffing of highly qualified teachers, commitment to standards, community support, participation and access to music instruction. The NAMM Foundation, with the assistance of researchers at The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas, evaluates participants on these factors. Designations are made to districts and schools that demonstrate an exceptionally high commitment and access to music education.

A complete list of districts and schools recognized by the foundation this year can be found at:

Best Communities
https://www.nammfoundation.org/articles/2016-best-communities-music-educ...

SupportMusic Merit
https://www.nammfoundation.org/articles/2016-supportmusic-merit-award-sc...

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About NAMM Foundation
The NAMM Foundation is a non-profit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 10,300 members around the world. The NAMM Foundation works to advance active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, please visit www.nammfoundation.org, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.