At Summer NAMM, established and emerging music instrument, retail and pro audio industry members can enjoy a plethora of professional development and business opportunities over the course of three days at Nashville’s Music City Center.
At the annual mid-year member gathering, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in more than 60 high-impact, future-focused educational sessions covering the biggest ideas and game-changing tactics to enrich attendees’ businesses and professional development and to help prepare them for the future.
Each morning of the show will bring the future to the fore in an opening NAMM U Breakfast Session. Thursday’s session will tackle the big trends in retail, from new business models and technologies to the omnichannel experience, with “Retail Innovators,” a session featuring the forward-thinking and successful retailers of today and the strategies and best practices positively changing retail. On Friday, the “Sales Lion” Marcus Sheridan will draw on his years of digital marketing and impart the transformative strategies needed to win online with “How to Become a Digital Powerhouse: Seven Steps to Online Transformation.” On Saturday, the perennial favorite “Best in Show,” a panel of retailers and Music Inc. and UpBeat Daily magazine Publisher Frank Alkyer return to share the hot products from Summer NAMM that consumers will be buzzing about into the holiday season and beyond.
Following the Breakfast Sessions, attendees will discover a wealth of professional insight and opportunities to strengthen retail businesses at the NAMM Idea Center. Highlights of the program span navigating and winning in online marketing, building strong lesson programs with low attrition, hosting unique and profitable in-store events, fresh ideas for creating a customer experience, and creative and cost-efficient store design.
Along with NAMM U, TEC Tracksreturns with two full days of pro audio programming designed to help professionals take their careers to the next level. Notable sessions include “Crafting a Hit Record,” with multi-platinum and multi-Grammy winners Tony Brown, Jeffrey Steele, Steve Marcantonio and Andrew Mendelson; “Concert Sound for The Eagles,” with legendary monitor engineer Mark Frink; and “Solving the ‘Sound Problem’ at Your House of Worship,” a solution-focused session addressing common challenges. TEC Tracks will also play host to a special Studio Engineering Summit: four back-to-back sessions designed to provide an understanding of the realities of studio life featuring the industry’s most experienced and respected recording veterans.
Saturday welcomes the show’s Make Music Experience, delivering a robust lineup of sessions curated for emerging artists to build successful – and sustaining – careers. Highlights of the program include “DIY Tips for Marketing and Social Media Success,” “How to Prepare Your Music for Pitching,” “Essential Tips for Getting Endorsed and Sponsored” and “Pensado’s Place Live at Summer NAMM,” featuring Dave Pensado, Herb Trawick and recording legends as they delve into the hottest topics in production today.
Also on Saturday, A3E (Advanced Audio + Applications Exchange) will present the game-changing technologies and ideas that are driving the evolution of music products and pro audio technologies. Highlights from the program range from “The Future Musician: The Real Impact of Artificial Intelligence” and “Developing Creative Software in The Social Media Era Musician” to “The Future of The Frets: Guitar for the Next Generation of Musicians,” as well as others.
Before the show officially opens, retail professionals of all areas of expertise are invited to take part in the new Retail Training Summit: a mini-conference that deep dives into the most relevant and critical areas for music retail success. Held on Wednesday, June 27, the program marks an evolution of the popular Retail Boot Camp program as a way to offer specialized training for music retail professionals in a format designed to give hands-on, proven ideas, techniques, and tools for retail success in a range of business areas. Retail professionals will be able to choose from six different sessions (one in the morning and one in the afternoon), covering a variety of hot-button issues and tools to stay competitive. Registration is now open and free to NAMM Members and their store staff to attend.
