Winter NAMM Show 2021 Cancelled due to Covid-19
Virtual event called Believe in Music slated for late January 2021
NAMM has just announced that the Winter NAMM Show 2021 has been cancelled, per a statement released today on the organisation’s website. Instead, it plans to hold a week of virtual events Believe in Music in late January 2021.
NAMM Show 2021 Cancelled
The National Association of Music Merchants Show, or as you and I call it, The NAMM Show, is a huge part of the music industry diary. It’s one of the main shows we look to every year to bring you breaking news of new products. Without a doubt, it’s one of the big news events in our yearly calendar.
Originally held in 1901, every January has seen music manufacturers, dealers, distributors and the press, descend on Anaheim California. This year, however, there is to be no NAMM show, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In spite of there being no physical show for us to attend, the organisers of NAMM are proposing an alternative way of connecting everyone. A week of virtual events, dubbed the NAMM Believe in Music Week will take place instead.
Winter NAMM 2021 has been cancelled
Believe in Music Week
Joe Lamond, NAMM President and CEO: “While it remains unsafe for us to gather in person in January, Believe in Music week will use new, intuitive technology to connect us all to harness the incredible energy that happens when we come together.”
We’ve had multiple reads through the press release and as you might expect there’s more hyperbole than facts right now. What we’re expecting though is a week of online manufacturer led workshops and clinics. Indeed, there’s precedent for something similar. Sweetwater, one of the US’s largest retailers hold an event each year called “Gearfest”. This year, Gearfest moved to an online event, with streamed artist performances and manufacturer workshops.
The Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas was cancelled at the end of July, pointing to an overall industry shift. Have we seen the end of music trade shows as we know them? Will trade shows ever return as we knew them? We hope so, as our cupboards are getting thin on complimentary mugs, pens and stickers! At this point, however, only time will tell…
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