NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) holds its annual conference in Anaheim, CA. Last week for the first time I decided to attend. The event takes over the Anaheim Convention Center for five days, clocking in at 1.8 million square feet of convention space or 31.25 football fields!
Every aspect of the music industry is represented. There are two ballrooms full of pro audio gear. There are three ballrooms full of guitar manufacturers. There are ballrooms full of drums, cymbals and drum manufacturers. There is a whole floor of pianos. There is a wing for wind instruments. There is an outdoor stage sponsored by Yamaha the size of a festival stage. There are performers of all types, from instrumentalist prodigies to singer songwriters. There are workshops in small break out rooms on subjects like marketing, content creation and publishing. If it relates to music and the music industry, it is represented at NAMM.
My goal was simple. I wanted to see NAMM. I wanted to network with other kindred spirits. I wanted to pass out swag I had printed up for the National Music Sanctuary.
I brought hundreds of National Music Sanctuary stickers with QR codes to my Patreon page. I brought beer cozies with National Music Sanctuary print media. As I wasn’t really sure what to expect, I decided to spend the first day as a tourist. I left the swag in the truck and headed in to get my “buyer” badge. Since I had no idea of what to expect, I was blindsided by the immensity of the event. If my experience could be summed up in a photo, the image above says it all. Look at the dog’s eyes. Her expression was my experience, overwhelming cacophony and bewilderment.
Each vendor has a sound component. Some vendors sponsor artists to play their wares. Some vendors have interactive stations set up for the attendee to play and test the gear. There are also stages every hundred feet where artists of all types perform. Sound bounces off material objects as it travels, so the conference space is filled with battling sound waves. NAMM hands out ear plugs for this reason.
For the most part, I didn’t feel the need to play or test new gear. I focused on networking and talking to vendors. Kemper distracted me for an hour though. The German engineers that created the Kemper amp profilers are on to something cool. More about amp modeling vs amp profiling in a future post. For now, I’ll just say Kemper is awesome!
I drove to LA from Santa Cruz on a Friday. Not a smart move. As I lived in the LA for three years in my 20s, I know it well but I always seem to forget how bad the traffic is. It’s roughly 341 miles to drive to LA from Santa Cruz and another 30 miles to Anaheim. At highway speeds, I was able to be in LA in five hours. From the base of the Grape Vine to Anaheim took another two hours! Next time I go to NAMM, I’ll fly and stay locally. Driving isn’t worth the hassle.
NAMM 2024 was enlightening. On a personal level, I learned people resonate with the National Music Sanctuary (NMS). My maiden voyage was a success. People liked the educational partnership of NMS. They liked the print media created by Steven Lasch. They liked Dangerbag. It felt good to give gifts of swag to Matt Eich of Mule Resophonic, Third Man Records, Kemper and Earthquaker Devices. It felt good to make people smile, watching as they got a cool new sticker.
I will return to NAMM again. Stay tuned.