A Messe situation

Huge changes are afoot at German trade show Musikmesse, which is shifting its emphasis to become a consumer event next year. Ronnie Dungan talked to the show’s new chief, Kai Hattendorf, and gauged some reaction from regular visitors and exhibitors to find out what the future holds for the sprawling Frankfurt expo…

Amid the excitement, or otherwise, surrounding new product launches at this year’s Musikmesse in Frankfurt, by far the biggest story over the four days of the show concerned the future of the event itself.

Put simply, its harshest critics would say that, long term, it simply doesn’t have one, a future that is. Changes to the format of next year’s Musikmesse will see it opening its doors to the public every day. The MI industry’s biggest trade show has just become a consumer show.

The 2016 event will take place from April 7th-10th and will “welcome” the public on each and every day. The next Prolight + Sound will be held from April 5th-8th but retains its trade-only status.

Hall 8 is the only hall that will not be open to the public for those that want a trade-only Musikmesse environment.

If it is a reflection of the health of the market, then it is somewhat alarming that the world’s biggest musical instrument trade show is now effectively a sideshow in one hall of consumer event that may or may not be a success.

All good news for the NAMM Show of course, which must surely declare itself the winner in the trade show heavyweight championship. Musikmesse just quit on its stool.

All that said, it should be noted that Musikmesse is also the organizer of the burgeoning Music China show and joint-organizer (with NAMM) of Music Russia, although that’s a show that is still to really establish itself. A victim of its own success elsewhere, perhaps.

The Frankfurt show has always been an expensive deal for exhibitors and visitors. It is not a cheap city to visit or stay in and space at the show is also a big commitment for manufacturers and distributors. In the last two years it has lost two huge exhibitors in Fender and German bass brand Warwick, both of which took significant floor space.

So, change therefore comes as no surprise. Indeed, it was already proceeding down its chosen route, committing to extra public access in 2013. But going the whole hog and becoming a show geared primarily towards the public is radical.

Kai Hattendorf, vice president Digital Business at Messe Frankfurt, has taken over from long-serving Cordelia von Gymnich to head up the show’s new direction.

He explained to MMR the reasoning behind the move: “Increased quality of business opportunities and, at the same time, greater character and impact as an event are not at all contradictory in this context – as we proved in 2015 with the launch on an exclusive B2B area. This part of the show has been an unqualified success – therefore we will be extending and building on this concept by establishing a dedicated business hall, to which only manufacturers, traders and distributors will have access. This allows us to serve exhibitors’ demands to conduct business discussions in a quiet surrounding, undisturbed and in a professional atmosphere.

“In addition, there are other investments from our side that underline our commitment to qualified musical instrument retailers. So that, from 2016 onwards, there will be an attractive professional-development and training program, specifically designed for specialist retailers. In addition, we are looking into numerous lead-building activities to help initiate and build business links between manufacturers and visitors.

“As far as musicians and music-making are concerned, there are two key developments in the market: sales and marketing are undergoing a structural change, as we are all seeing; and people are not making music themselves as much as they used to. As a result, for many exhibitors, being able to speak to end customers is becoming ever more important as one of their objectives at the show. There is no other platform anywhere in the world, at which exhibitors can reach such a large number of musicians at all levels of professional involvement and excite enthusiasm for their products.

“We are very conscious of this as a strength of the show. Therefore we will build on it still further – and, indeed, such a move corresponds to the wishes of the majority of exhibitors.”

How then, has this news been received by regular exhibitors and attendees of the show? Talking to a handful of the UK’s distributors and manufacturers it seems that such a move has done nothing to improve a relationship that was already a little fraught, as it is with a lot of trade shows and exhibitors – all of them represent a significant investment in time and money.

The party line, from the UK’s trade association, the MIA, which has a close working relationship with Musikmesse has to be one of positivity. And is.

Chief executive, Paul McManus, says: “Change is inevitable with all events and shows and the balance of public and trade is always a tricky one. The new B2B area that was piloted at the 2015 event seemed to work well and points a clear way for those wishing to purely meet the trade. The overlap of Pro Light and MI over Thursday and Friday seems sensible. There is a clear choice now for potential exhibitors to either go B2B, go public or both.  The MIA have already met with the Musikmesse management team to discuss and understand the new format and we will offer them our full support on behalf of the industry, as always.”

Rob Castle, UK MD of Korg, is largely positive about the changes too, and thinks the B2B area was a success this year, but says exhibitors will need convincing before they commit to next year’s new format.

“The show is an expensive event to exhibit at and whenever you introduce a big change to a show like this you give people a reason to rethink. It’s not just a question of ‘do we go larger or smaller’ but ‘do we go at all?’ Unless it can be seen as good value there is a danger that people will sit the next one out and see how it goes before committing for the following year.”

That’s a situation that the show can ill afford to endure. Visitor numbers for this year’s event (combined with Prolight and Sound) were down on last year – 108,000 compared with 110,000 in 2014. And the suspicion is that Prolight attendance, buoyed by the thriving pro-audio industry, is masking worse figures for Musikmesse.

Simon Gilson, MD, of the UK’s largest MI retailer, PMT has never been a fan of the show and doesn’t pull his punches in his assessment of it:  “Frankfurt is in trouble, we all know that. We don’t need a show three to four months after the best show in the World. Having said all that you could argue that NAMM is in slight jeopardy as well. But we just don’t need a show in Germany. Products can be launched online so you could argue that you don’t need it at all. It is an opportunity once a year for the whole community to get together and talk, which is great, but in terms of pounds and pence, it doesn’t make much sense.

“Frankfurt was a dowdy, downtrodden, show this year. And if exhibitors are beginning to stop supporting it, there really is no future for it. It’s done.”

Oof! Even supporters of the show, of which Jason How, MD of iconic UK string manufacturer Rotosound, is one, are reassessing how they will be involved next year.

He says: “I think these changes have been in the air for a while. We will still do the show, but on a smaller scale. Frankfurt is still relevant, but having NAMM and Musikmesse so close makes it awkward. It would be better if the shows were six months apart so you saw your distributors twice a year.

“The noise in Hall 4 is unbearable and it’s impossible to discuss business over all the ‘trade show widdling’ so we opted for a meeting room this year. It’s not ideal but at least we could discuss business with out all the aggro.

“Making it a consumer show makes it even less attractive, but as a manufacturer we still need to be there. Some European and Far Eastern distributors don’t always go to NAMM. Maybe a soundproof booth on the show floor would be the best option!”

One firm which already seems to have made up its mind about next year is distributor, Barnes & Mullins. Simply, the shift to a consumer show, places the onus on local distributors to promote brands such as Faith Guitars, which it has traditionally used the show to boost,.

“For us, we’re there for international business,” says Brian Cleary, joint MD.  For our Faith guitar brand, however, any public show would be the responsibility of the local German distributor. We’ve got our distribution for Faith established across Europe, so it negates the necessity to exhibit the brand in Europe. So the question is ‘are we likely to exhibit at next year’s show?’ and the answer is ‘we’re not’.”

“It’s a shame but the difficulty is whether or not the international trade needs three international music fairs every year. We also find April to be too close to NAMM as well.

“They’ve got a difficult situation on their hands and a lot is due to the success of Music China, which they also organize, so it may be that they are the victims of their own success.”

The popularity of trade shows does seem to ebb and flow and they must be in tune with the market’s needs if they are to continue to succeed. That’s true of any market.

The question is not so much about whether the market wants or needs a big showcase trade show right now, some would say not, it’s more about whether a set-up the size of Musikmesse has the agility to deliver anything else, should that be what the market desires.