July 23, 2024 I Event
NAMM’s Inaugural NAMM NeXT Sees More Than 100 Companies Attend
From left: White House of Music owner and NAMM board member Chris White; NAMM CEO John Mlynczak; FUBU CEO and keynote speaker Daymond John; Yamaha President and NAMM Chairman Tom Sumner; Ted Brown Music owner and NAMM board Whitney Brown-Grisaffi; and Korg USA president and NAMM board member Joe Castronovo.
Last week, NAMM held its Inaugural NAMM NeXT event, a two-day summit with the goal to supply the MI industry with insights and analysis for the future of business. More than 100 global companies gathered at the conference, which was held at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville, Tennessee, from July 17–18, 2024.
“We knew that we needed a new event, in addition to The NAMM Show, to unite the leaders of our NAMM Member companies around the common goal of strengthening the music products industry.” said John Mlynczak, president and CEO of NAMM. “The overwhelming positive energy and abundance of ideas demonstrated that our industry as a community is more than just belonging to something; it’s about doing something together that creates more music makers worldwide … and we could not think of a better location than Music City USA.”
NAMM NeXT featured big-picture and hands-on sessions with experts from inside and outside of the music industry to inspire new ideas, develop talent and drive conversations that will take attendees’ businesses and the global industry to the next level. Attendees participated in keynotes, panel discussions and workshops that allowed for a deeper look into each business focus.
This event featured keynote speaker Daymond John, founder and CEO of FUBU and star of ABC’s “Shark Tank.” Featured speakers also included Whitney Johnson, leadership and innovation expert, CEO and co-founder of Disruption Advisors; Brendan Witcher, vice president, principal analyst of Forrester Research, expert on consumer behavior and technology trends, and commentator for Bloomberg; Mark Schaefer, global marketing expert of Schaefer Marketing Solutions; Katy Craig, professional certified coach, International Coaching Federation and Coactive Training Institute; Dana M. Peterson, chief economist with The Conference Board; and Troy Tomlinson, chairman and CEO at Universal Music Publishing Nashville.
One of the primary goals for NAMM NeXT is uniting NAMM member communities from every corner of the world and sharing best business practices while bringing NAMM NeXT geographically closer to these members.
“I quickly realized that working with NAMM and this event would not only be enjoyable but also be a chance to support the music industry in creative business practices that have been missing the last few years,” said Brendan Witcher, vice president and principal analyst of Forrester Research. “I have spoken at conferences around the world, and I can say that participating in and being on stage at NAMM NeXT was sensational in every aspect.”
NAMM NeXT will continue as an investment in the music industry at large and be held annually. As with this year’s event, future NAMM NeXT events will focus on helping grow the music business by elevating the companies and people in the industry. NAMM will announce future dates and cities for 2025 in the fall.
Full coverage of the event will be featured in Music Inc.’s upcoming September 2024 issue.
