The NAMM Show Features New Music Industry Products To Nearly 100,000 Attendees

This past weekend marked the 113th edition of The NAMM (National Assn. of Music Merchants) SHOW, held January 22-25, the annual industry-only global music product trade show annually drew 99,342 NAMM registrants, the largest gathering in NAMM's history to Anaheim. The show featured 5,000+ music instrument, product and technology brands, including guitars, drums, pianos, synthesizers, band and orchestra instruments, pro audio equipment, DJ gear and events that brought together techno star Moby, Lynyrd Skynyrd, George Clinton, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and music gear enthusiasts galore.

Among the 1,621 exhibiting companies came proof that even though musical instruments have been around for at least 50,000 years they are subject to further evolution thanks to technology and e-commerce. Major players like Avid, makers of the industry standard digital audio workstation Pro Tools, Slate Digital (now offering their entire line of plugins for $19.99/month) and more have all announced subscription based plans that include cloud-based collaboration and file-sharing integration into their products. Avid has gone as far to announce a freemium-like version of their software, Pro Tools | First.

"Subscription pricing is the de rigeur model being explored by many who make their living with internet distribution. The opportunity is lowering the barrier to enter which increases your base but not revenue, the challenge is to match the upstreaming value proposition. To ensure the customer has a reason to not only stay, but continue to pay. Avid is laser focused on how to make the customer experience better and evolved. And we support them 100 percent," says Herb Trawick, co-host and executive producer of Pensado's Place, the acclaimed weekly web series known as the most influential show for engineers, mixers and producers featuring Grammy winning engineer Dave Pensado.

"At Pensado's Place, we believe you build, maximize, and create trust to scale first. That baked in knowledge allows for customized pricing strategies per customer and per product. Goal, a satisfied, in control customer with options that fit and lead to increased sales and margins. Technology is about constant change and we expect pricing strategies to continue to evolve."

The increased ease of use of tablets and smartphones in the creation of music were also showcased by many popular industry leading manufactures like Apogee, IK Multimedia, Line6 and Positive Grid. Positive Grid, who's products are geared towards forward-thinking guitarists including BIAS Desktop, billed as the world's most accurate, thorough and versatile guitar-amp modeler and designer, have all but eliminated the need for a real amplifier. The combination of their iOS version of BIAS and effects program JAMUP Pro can make your guitar tone sound as good as a rock god's.

Speaking of rock royalty, at the 30th annual NAMM TEC Awards, iconic guitarist Slash rocked the house with a performance after receiving the evening's highest honor, the Les Paul Award, named for the revolutionary inventor and esteemed musician. A tribute band played along and included Orianthi, Don Was and Kenny Aranoff. The Les Paul award recognizes individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of audio and music technology. In addition, bassist Nathan East performed several songs after he and iconic music engineer and Chicago native Ed Cherney became the newest inductees to the NAMM TEC Awards Hall of Fame.

Even with its members-only admission policy, seeing all of what NAMM has to offer is virtually impossible — especially on the weekend when attendance is at its heaviest. Here are some of the products that caught attention at the NAMM media preview:

Slate Media Technology
New product: Raven MTX MK2
The Hook: The RAVEN MTX revolutionized the world of audio by being the first multi touch professional control surface for the world's top DAW's. Used all over the world by pros like Mark Needham, Rik Simpson, Terry Lewis, Will.i.am, Jimmy Douglass, Full Sail University, SAE University, and many more top names and institutions, the RAVEN has proven itself as one of the top players in modern studio workflow.
Suggested Retail Price: TBD

Line 6
New product: Digital Wireless Relay g70 / g75
The Hook: Now only one wireless signal receiver can switch instantly between multiple instruments/ transmitters, complete with programmable presets for signal routing, levels and more.
Suggested Retail Price: $499

Pioneer DJ
New product: XDJ-RX all-in-one DJ device
The Hook: Combines a central two-channel mixer (which can also operate independently) with a pair of control platters modeled on Pioneer's popular range of CDJs. The unit is designed to work as an entirely standalone device, meaning that it doesn't rely on a laptop to operate. Instead, the XDJ-RX is loaded with music that has been prepared in Pioneer's rekordbox application, either via USB drive or via wired connection to an Android or iOS device running the free rekordbox app.
Suggested Retail Price: $1499

Positive Grid
New product: BIAS DESKTOP / BIAS MOBILE
The Hook: BIAS Mobile is an Amp Designer, Modeler and Processor for iPhone and iPad. It allows you to virtually create your guitar and bass amps. it's seamlessly integrated with JamUp guitar multi-effects apps, turns your into a powerful and completely unified professional guitar system for live use, recording and jamming. all-in-one DJ device.
Suggested Retail Price: $199 desktop / $9.99 mobile