-Guitar Hero is all the rage for consumers.

-Need to take a break from searching for the latest gear during The NAMM Show? Here are some celebrity appearances and parties to check out.

-Attendance increased at Music China and Prolight + Sound, and Kenny G made a big splash.

-Improving next month's NAMM Show is like making the 1972 Miami Dolphins better. But NAMM is certainly not resting on its laurels.

-We reveal all of the manufacturer nominees for Music & Sound Awards to be handed out next month at The NAMM Show.

-Counterfeiting on MI products, particularly guitars, may have received minimal national press, but the problem is real and not going away.

-Find out how to sell products your customers are probably not looking to buy.

-M&SR features its second annual independent retailer roundtable. What's on dealer's mind's this year. Are things better than last year?

-Females playing musical instruments now outnumber males, according to a NAMM/Gallup survey.

-Industry leaders paved the way for the next 10 years.

Of course, you could always attend NAMM to get away from things for three days. “The saying that sometimes it’s better to work on your business than in your business has never been more true in this current period of change,” said Lamond.

Another factor we failed to mention is the City of Austin itself. Many attendees last year said they were more welcome in the city compared to Indianapolis in 2005.

“The perception of last year’s show from our members who attended was that Austin is a great city with all the right elements for this show,” said Kevin Johnstone, NAMM’s director of trade shows. “As always, we will look to our members for guidance regarding future decisions about Summer NAMM.

“The friendliness you saw last year is more evidence the City of Austin just ‘gets’ NAMM,” he added. “Its enthusiasm for this show is really something you can feel in the warm smiles of hotel and restaurant employees to the many musicians performing nightly in all of the clubs. Every television and radio station and media outlet in town did multiple stories about Summer NAMM last year, more than we’ve ever seen in any market. But again, the most important thing to us is that Austin works hard to make our members feel like royalty while they are in town. You can expect the red-carpet treatment again this year.”


But Can it Rival Winter NAMM?
The answer is “no.” In fact, it’s not intended to. But not everything in Austin is a slam dunk. The temperature can be sweltering at times and complaints about a lack of simplified travel still exist. There was a time not long ago when getting to Austin was perhaps its greatest challenge. But according to NAMM, that aspect has improved dramatically. “Austin has direct flights from 46 destinations in the U.S.,” said Johnstone. “And it’s a short hop from Dallas/Forth Worth, one of the largest airports in the country with hundreds of direct flights. We know our members’ time and financial resources are limited and valuable, and that’s why NAMM is striving to do everything we can to make the trip to Austin provide a good return on that investment.”

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