For most music retailers, the inspiration for the busy end-of-year season begins at the Summer NAMM, this year held June 23-25, 2016. The annual summer music industry gathering in Nashville’s Music City Center brings together major buying power and the hottest brands to the heart of Music City. With a wider range of professional development offerings and many new and first-time exhibitors, Summer NAMM 2016 is sure to provide a wealth of valuable opportunities.
“Many members tell us that Summer NAMM is important to them as they plan their inventory ahead of the busy fall and holiday selling seasons,” says Joe Lamond, president and CEO of NAMM. “The industry is in a prime position for growth and opportunity and we are committed to providing this affordable mid-year gathering to further the prosperity of our community music store members and the exhibitors who support their success.”
Summer NAMM provides a dynamic platform for emerging and established brands to create lasting impressions as buyers plan for the second half of the year. Returning exhibitors include; Yamaha, Peavey Electronics, Roland Corporation, C.F. Martin & Company, Alesis, Taylor Guitars, Casio, Sabian, ESP Guitars, Hal Leonard Corporation, Floyd Rose, Zildjian and many more.
NAMM 2016 will also welcome back to the show for the first time in several years a long list of brands including; Fender Musical Instrument Corporation, Ovation Guitar Company, American Music & Sound, Ernie Ball, Davitt & Hanser Music Co, Vestax, Heritage Guitars, Pearl Drums and Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc.
This year, dozens of music retailer-focused NAMM U offerings will be available to attendees, including Wednesday’s Retail Boot Camp, NAMM U Breakfast Sessions each morning and NAMM Idea Center sessions, delivering proven, peer-to-peer ideas for maximizing retail business opportunities throughout the show.
New to 2016, Retail Boot Camp will feature two tracks; one devoted to music retail sales and marketing and the other centered on music retail financial management. Adjacent to the NAMM Idea Center, TEC Tracks will offer a spectrum of educational sessions on recording and live sound production, including A3E’s “The Future of Audio Summit” on Saturday.
Nashville nightlife kicks off with evening entertainment and networking opportunities. Friday night, June 24, salute the best in music-products retailing at the sixth annual Top 100 Dealer Awards. On Saturday June 25, NAMM will host Music Industry Day, which offers professionals from the industry a chance to attend 2016 Summer NAMM to discover new products, attend educational workshops, see live music and network to form new business relationships.
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.
June 23-25
Nashville, Tennessee
www.namm.org/summer/2016
