Carlsbad, CA (January 27, 2021)—Forced to move online for a virtual event, NAMM turned its annual Winter NAMM Show into Believe in Music week in mid-January, attracting 93,226 attendees from 187 countries for the five-day occasion.
Between Monday, January 18 and Friday, January 22, Believe in Music week hosted 983 special sessions and events for a total of 611 hours of content, 36 of them livestreamed. That included nearly 200 education, training and professional development sessions presented by 391 speakers. The event’s Marketplace hosted 1,227 participating brands.
“The Yamaha team put a ton of effort into bringing our dealers and customers a great experience at Believe in Music week. Our team members met with hundreds of our dealers and many of them noted they were the best meetings they have ever had—either in person or virtual. And tens of thousands of customers dug into the content we presented in our 11 virtual booths,” shared Tom Sumner, President of Yamaha Corporation of America.
Mitch Gallagher of Sweetwater offered “More than a substitute for the traditional trade show, Believe in Music week established a new venue for manufacturers, retailers, press, and music-makers to connect, interact, and learn from one another. A huge success!”
“We’ve been thoroughly impressed with the overall virtual experience of NAMM: Believe in Music week,” said Abby Kaplan, VP of Global Retail Sales at Shure. “While we miss seeing everyone in person, we have still been able to connect with customers, introduce them to our products, and do planning with our channel partners.”
NAMM Show 2021 Replaced by ‘Believe in Music Week’ Online
“Believe in Music week vastly exceeded my expectations, packed with valuable information, education and in-depth product seminars. It truly felt like a global music community connected by this platform that became a social network for the music industry and attendees,” said Chris Tso of Full Compass. “This was a great way for our staff to participate, gain skills we can use today and a powerful way to promote the benefits of making music.”
Alan Macpherson, CEO of L-Acoustics Americas, said, “This year, rising to a new challenge with its Believe in Music week, NAMM proposed a well-thought-out alternative to the in-person show and has accompanied us as we built our show presence. The new format is providing excellent opportunities for interaction with new and existing clients and a platform for us to present our products and services to a wide and varied audience.
For the Audio Production and Technology Track, sessions for recording, live sound, house of worship professionals, and music technologists dove into the landscape of new technology. Programs included TEC Tracks, which offered big-picture sessions and high-profile topics in recording, live sound, and music business, highlighted by interviews with top producers, engineers, and artists, including Dave Cobb, Craig Bauer, John Boylan, Suzanne Ciani and Peter Asher, and live streaming and remote music production tips sessions for house of worship audio professionals.
The Audio Engineering Society presented educational sessions on key topics for audio professionals, including streaming live performances and new music industry business models. In a first, the Event Safety Alliance (ESA) joined the NAMM event. The ESA shared a suite of educational sessions with a roster of academics and industry professionals that explored critical issues within the live event space, including safety in production design, risk management, COVID-19 mitigation planning, and more.
The Believe in Music platform is open to all until February 28, 2021.
NAMM • www.namm.org
