New Digital Behaviors: A New Calendar for the Audio Industry

With the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic effects, in the same way as many retailers' business and entire distribution models have been disrupted, consumer behavior changes are also affecting the manufacturers' calendars in general. The industry is no longer depending on massive industry events that in the past have determined important product launch and promotion cycles.

Post-CES 2020 Impressions. "CES is over but we’re just getting started!" That’s the optimistic vision propagated by many companies who just attended the gigantic Las Vegas event and they leave without really knowing if it was a success or not. Because this is no longer the old days when audio companies would leave CES with their order books filled. Currently, all you have are “contacts” and “great meetings” and little else to backup the promises of future business. And that’s the most important game after all at a show like CES. That and the media hallo effect that new product presentations might have caused.

I learned to attend trade shows in the era when it was crucial to bring back a large bag weighing 80 pounds filled with catalogs, price lists, and product manuals. In fact, I quickly learned to look at the global trade show calendar and sometimes attended regional trade shows just to find new products ahead of the major international events and establish an early relationship with a new company. Those local shows were mainly targeted at meeting final clients and end users for the region, but they were an effective way to meet key people with more time available, and learn how they defined their sales pitch in their own - sometimes more mature - markets.

Fresh off a multitude of pro audio product debuts, new innovations and a celebration of technical and creative achievements, the NAMM TEC Awards council has announced a call for entries to be honored at The 35th annual NAMM TEC Awards. Companies are encouraged to enter their products and/or projects in one of 23 Technical Achievement and eight Creative Achievement categories to be considered for recognition.

Voice Coil January 2019 is now available. This edition focuses on New Materials for Earphones and Headphones and also includes a valuable listing of Earphone and Headphone Manufacturers and a schedule of headphone-centric events for the year. In Acoustic Patents, James Croft looks at a new patent of a multilayer voice coil plate and flat speaker based on the same, while in this month's Test Bench Vance Dickason features a 1" compression driver from Radian Audio Engineering, and a 1" soft dome tweeter from Eminence. This is much more, now available in print and download.

As the global crossroads of music, pro audio and event technology industries, The 2019 NAMM Show has announced a suite of professional development opportunities, transformative business know-how and hands-on training available for working and emerging professionals involved in all aspects of the industry. Professionals will have the opportunity to connect with top thought leaders and experience sessions designed to engage, inform and inspire, as well as further their careers against the backdrop of the industry’s global gathering.

The NAMM TEC (Technical Excellence and Creativity) committee announced that Leslie Ann Jones, the groundbreaking engineer, producer, and Director of Music and Scoring for Skywalker Sound will be inducted into the NAMM TEC Hall of Fame at the 34th Annual NAMM TEC Awards, January 26 in Anaheim, California. Jones joins luminaries Rose Mann Cherney, Skunk Baxter, Hal Blaine, Jack Douglas, Nathan East, Geoff Emerick, and others with her induction, the industry’s highest honor for pioneers of audio technology, as well as the music industry’s most accomplished producers and audio technicians.

All is ready for The NAMM Show January 24–27, 2019 at the Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA. The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show, the global crossroads of music products, pro audio and sound, and live event technology industries, returns to the newly-expanded Anaheim Convention Center in 2019 and will offer visitors a dynamic way to cover all aspects of music: from products, to pro sound and live production. This will be a consolidation of the reinforced show that positively surprised the industry in 2018.

Building on the success of the inaugural AES@NAMM Pro Sound Symposium: Live & Studio in 2018, and the organizations' shared mission to continue to strengthen the music and pro audio industries, The National Association of Music Merchants and the Audio Engineering Society have reaffirmed their commitment to providing best-in-class education and professional development opportunities with a three-year agreement for January 2019, 2020 and 2021 at The NAMM Show in Anaheim, California.

The 2018 NAMM Show, the global crossroads of the music products, pro audio and sound, and event technology industries, will offer exhibitors and attendees the largest expanded campus in the show’s history when the doors open January 25-28, 2018 in Anaheim, California. The 2017 edition welcomed 7,000 brands and a record 1,779 exhibiting companies. The opening of the ACC North Hall, promises to make the NAMM Show 2018 even larger, and an enhanced show experience for all.