FOR THE FIRST time since 2020, the music industry descended upon Mickey Mouse Land to get its NAMM dance on, and from jump street it was — well…weird. We may have been in the right place — the Anaheim Convention Center — but it was the “wrong” time. NAMM took place on the first weekend in June, whereas Anaheim traditionally hosts the huge Winter NAMM Show in January, and Nashville presents a smaller Summer NAMM Show in July. While a scaled-back event was held in Nashville in 2021, this year’s bash was intended to be the extra-large experience the Anaheim show usually is. The turnout, however, was extra small.
If the Anaheim show is a primary litmus test for the state of the musical instrument biz, what does it say about the industry’s health? In short, it’s complicated. Some manufacturers — the majors, mostly — are thriving, while the majority are struggling. The sheer number of empty aisles at the show indicated that many not only didn’t make it to the show — they didn’t make it, period. Everyone has had to adapt, and the situation remains fluid as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on supply chains and personnel. With the
