The 2010 Winter NAMM show Wrap-up

          This year's NAMM show held great significance to the music industry. It was proof of good numbers despite the economy, and how music can survive any economic situation. As an annual show in Anaheim, CA, NAMM typically showcases the newest products and technologies, as well as upcoming artists. More info after the jump..



          Interestingly enough, this year's NAMM show had greater amounts of smaller or startup companies than other years.  Some of the larger companies cut back and got smaller booths, and some didn't come at all.  When the economy starts changing, company styles start changing too.  Larger venture capitalist style companies give way to smaller, independant companies.  Startup costs become smaller in a slower economy, allowing for them to get a solid footing where other years would prove to be too expensive. 
          Typically, the bottom floor of the convention center houses the smaller companies as well as the international companies.  However, this year has seen a dramatic increase in Chinese and Taiwanese companies.  Their presence was also engrained by the high quality/ high profit margin products that they had layed out on the show floor.  My Mandarin speaking skills were a real benifit this time around; I used it to network with them and talk about what their company outlook was.  Their products are rivialing American made quality, and undercut some of the big companies' prices by more than 25%. 
           This year there was a larger initiative for "green" products, as well as fair-trade products.  This was evident by some of the bigger companies coming out with products that were RoHS, had safer or less volatile paints, or were made by certified workers who's conditions and wages were monitored.  With the majority of the companies going green, the bandwagon gets larger every year.  Heck even the coffee in the convention center had documents of fair trade. 
           Artists came in as strong of numbers as they did last year.  Music has the ability to survive even the roughest of times, and all the musicians and artists that came to the show looked to continue that trend.  The usual crowd of celebrities showed up; Slipnot, Santana, George Benson, and some B-list artists.  This year's All-star Guitar night was a bit smaller, but it still ran despite the harder times. 
            The world economy is forcing change in many sectors, and as an American market our goal is a bit more outlined based on this NAMM show.  Cutting back on spending doesn't mean we have to cut people from work.  And from the other side, we as workers must put everything we got in terms of quality to make your company's product its best.  Paying them accordingly and fairly is a global initiative that requires both the employer and employee to do what's right, and that is what I have found that this economy has shown me from this NAMM show. 

We'll see what next year's show brings.

-David