American Music & Sound, one of the leading distributors of musical instruments and pro audio products in North America, had their most exciting and prominent presence ever at the 2024 NAMM show, which took place from January 25 to 28 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
American Music & Sound, an Exertis | JAM business, represents many renowned brands in the industry, including Allen & Heath, Nord, BASSBOSS, Focusrite, and more. These brands successfully showcased their latest and greatest products at two American Music and Sound booths: one in the Main hall, focused on musical instruments and DJ products; and one in the Pro Audio hall, focused on professional mixing consoles and pro audio gear.
The Pro Audio booth was extended this year to include products from CAD, Lake People, and Ashly Audio. In addition to learning about special promotions tied to the company’s 50th anniversary in 2024, visitors to the Ashly Audio display were able to demo the new AquaControl software, which provides a powerful and intuitive interface for controlling Ashly’s networked amplifiers and processors. CAD Audio presented its range of microphones, headphones, wireless systems, and more. Lake People, a German manufacturer of high-end audio equipment, displayed its range of headphone amplifiers, converters, and preamps.
The booth in the main hall featured a range of performances from brand-endorsed DJs and live musicians- mixed by Allen & Heath’s new CQ series of compact digital mixers. Newly included in a corner of the American Music & Sound booth was a ‘MIX&LISTEN ZONE’, which allowed for interactive demos of a wide range of interfaces, guitars, keyboards, mixers, headphones and loudspeakers from a wide spectrum of American Music & Sound distributed brands.
“At the end of day, the real metric that matters is how many folks walked away from the booths and special events with a smile on their face,” said American Music & Sound / Allen & Heath USA Marketing Director, Jeff Hawley. “We can confidently state that the smiles and engaging experiences were up for AM&S in 2024. Allen & Heath was all over the place, every one of the interactive events was packed, and the new ‘Mix & Listen Zone’ in the AM&S booth was always hopping. It was great to see a Washburn guitar from our friends at KMC running through an Allen & Heath CQ and into ADAM Audio headphones — right next to a Kurzweil keyboard into an A&H SQ console and Fostex studio monitors. The ‘one-stop-shop’ story that we like to tell is more than just marketing-speak!”
American Music & Sound also hosted a speaker demo room, showing off BASSBOSS and Ocean Way Audio’s AeroWave speakers with live demos. AeroWave is a revolutionary speaker system that uses precise wave guide technology to create a true stereo sound for large audiences. Attendees were able to hear AeroWave for themselves on show days at allotted times. BASSBOSS demos, featuring new MK3 technology, took place daily and awed room-packed audiences with the roof shaking power of their speakers.
“The BASSBOSS demo experience navigated a product journey from its ultra-portable powerhouse models like the SV9, DV12, BB15, and DJ18s to the industry leading production, touring, and install series cabs,” said BASSBOSS and Ocean Way Audio National Sales Manager Samia Scoda. “Each demo’s finale not only had the audience raving, the ceiling was also showing off its moves. The never harsh, warm clean sound coupled with extraordinarily powerful LF, made memories for all that were in attendance.”
Beyond a successful showcase at their booth in the pro audio hall, Allen & Heath earned a TEC Award commemorating the dLive CTi1500 v1.97 for Small Format Console Technology. Nord was another American Music & Sound distributed brand that won a TEC Award for Musical Instrument Hardware with their Stage 4 keyboard, while Ashly Audio (an Exertis | JAM business) was a finalist with their MA Series Amplifiers in the category for Amplification Hardware / Studio & Sound Reinforcement.
“The team at American Music & Sound has always been one of the most consistent supporters of the NAMM Show, especially over the past few years as we figured out what trade shows would look like post-pandemic,” said American Music & Sound President Patrick Sullivan. “Our belief was always that the most important part of our job was to meet our partners face to face, shake their hand, and talk about how we could improve the experience of our shared customers. The great manufacturers we represent supported us over the last few shows, even when it was uncertain what the NAMM show would bring. After the amazing turnout of the 2024 show, we felt that our commitment to the industry was rewarded by the overwhelmingly positive responses we received from our product booths, demo rooms, and training sessions. We expect that the time spent with partners both old and new, mapping out how to improve the customer experience and supply the right products and solutions at the right time, will bring exciting opportunities in the coming year.”
Looking Back on 2025: A Year of Controlled Chaos (Emphasis on “Controlled”)