As NAMM marks 125 years of music, resilience, and the people who keep the industry moving forward, this conversation about The NAMM Show 2026 explores how artists, education, and authentic connection are shaping what comes next.
As NAMM approaches its 125th year, the conversation around The NAMM Show 2026 centers less on products alone and more on the people, relationships, and creative energy that sustain the music industry. In this episode, John Mlynczak, President and CEO of NAMM, joins Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli to frame the upcoming show as a moment shaped by resilience, adaptation, and shared purpose.
Mlynczak positions NAMM’s history as a long record of responding to disruption. Musical genres shift. Technologies rise and fall. Companies appear and disappear. Music itself remains. That continuity shapes how NAMM views its role today, particularly amid global trade pressures and ongoing debates around AI in music creation. These pressures are not framed as endpoints, but as forces the industry has encountered many times before, each eventually reshaped into opportunity.
A major theme is the renewed emphasis on human connection. While innovation remains central, differentiation increasingly comes through artists, creators, and authentic storytelling. Product launches are no longer just technical showcases. They are expressions of identity, collaboration, and trust between musicians and the tools they choose. According to Mlynczak, this shift is driving a larger presence of artists and creators at The NAMM Show 2026, reinforcing the idea that brands are ultimately represented by people, not specifications.
Education also plays a defining role. With more than 200 sessions planned, alongside new half-day and full-day summits, The NAMM Show 2026 expands its commitment to learning across experience levels and professional communities. Retailers, educators, engineers, marketers, and performers each have distinct paths through the show, designed intentionally rather than left to chance. Data-driven planning allows NAMM to understand how attendees engage, enabling more tailored experiences now and in the years ahead.
Underlying it all is energy. Not hype, but momentum built through in-person connection. The NAMM Show is described as a space where competitors share ideas, musicians find inspiration, and creativity compounds simply by being present. For those who attend, The NAMM Show 2026 serves as a springboard into the year ahead, shaped by music’s enduring ability to connect, adapt, and move people forward.
The NAMM Show 2026 is taking place from January 20-24, 2026 | Anaheim Convention Center • Southern California — Coverage provided by ITSPmagazine — Follow our coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/cybersecurity-technology-society-events/the-namm-show-2026
GUEST:
Guest: John Mlynczak, President and CEO of NAMM | View Website | Visit NAMM
HOSTS:
Sean Martin, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.seanmartin.com
Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.com
NAMM Organization: https://www.namm.org/
The NAMM Show 2026: https://www.namm.org/thenammshow/attend
Catch more stories from NAMM Show 2026 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/cybersecurity-technology-society-events/the-namm-show-2026
Music Evolves: Sonic Frontiers Newsletter | https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7290890771828719616/
More from Marco Ciappelli on Redefining Society and Technology Podcast: https://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com/
Want to share an Event Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More 👉 https://www.studioc60.com/performance#briefing
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KEYWORDS: sean martin, marco ciappelli, john mlynczak, the namm show, the namm show 2026, namm 2026, music industry, music technology, music education, artist collaborations, event coverage, on location, conference
[00:00:49] Sean Martin: Marco,
[00:00:51] Marco Ciappelli: Sean, is that in tune? Are you in tune?
[00:00:54] Sean Martin: I'm always in tune.
[00:00:55] Marco Ciappelli: Yeah.
[00:00:56] Sean Martin: Well, at least in my own head, Diane,
[00:00:58] Marco Ciappelli: Is an out is an auto tuner [00:01:00] or
[00:01:00] Sean Martin: That's I'm, I'm on auto tuner. Exactly.
[00:01:02] John Mlynczak: It's an AI tuning plugin. I think it, uh.
[00:01:06] Marco Ciappelli: I hope not. I hope not.
[00:01:07] Sean Martin: embedded in my head.
[00:01:08] Marco Ciappelli: I'll be very disappointed in you, Sean.
[00:01:11] Sean Martin: I know. No, we were, we were talking offline before we started chatting. I'm, I'm, I try to be a purist when it comes to, uh, creating music. And then we're also talking about those who listen to it and whether it matters to them. If people are creating music in purist form without ai, and I don't know, time, time will tell.
We've seen some signs that, uh, make us all scratch our heads, but, uh, we'll, we'll see where things end up.
[00:01:35] Marco Ciappelli: We will figure it out. We'll figure it out.
[00:01:37] Sean Martin: figure it out. And I mean, AI is just one piece of the, uh, technology puzzle. It seems to be getting a lot of the, a lot of the attention lately. But, uh, there are still instruments with and without ai, um, equipment that, that helps, uh.
Capture a sound and, and, uh, present sound and gives performers a way to, uh, project to an audience and, [00:02:00] and connect with their audience. So there's all kinds of technology, and that's what's cool about an event coming up in, uh, in January, Margo.
[00:02:08] Marco Ciappelli: An event that I'm very, very excited about. I mean, I love cybersecurity. I love smart cities, but you know, I love music. So what, what could be better than this?
[00:02:19] Sean Martin: I know. So we, we had a chance to cover the event, uh, and connect with John last year. John, it's good to see you.
[00:02:25] John Mlynczak: Good to see both of you again. It's my favorite thing to talk about is the NAM Show.
[00:02:29] Sean Martin: Exactly Nam show 2026 in January. The, uh, the exact dates are the 20th, 20 through the 24th for the events, and the exhibits are on 22nd through 24th. And, uh, it's a good few days. I had the chance to go last year for the first time. I can't believe it took me. All that time to make it there. But I'm so glad I did, and I'm even more excited for this year because I'm actually gonna do it more formally.
I didn't, I'm just arriving this time and, uh, seeing what's happening. So we're gonna,
[00:02:58] Marco Ciappelli: up.
[00:02:58] Sean Martin: it's just showing up [00:03:00] and it was a good, a good time with just showing up, so I can only imagine what we're gonna accomplish this year. But, uh, before we get into what 2026 will bring, um, maybe a few words from you, John. Uh, what's going on with you and, and Nam, the big picture before you get into the, to the big event.
[00:03:17] John Mlynczak: Yeah. Well, it's a pleasure to be here and thank you all so much for, for all you do and thank you for, I'm glad you had an amazing experience at NAM last year. Uh, no, 2026 marks the hundred 25th year that Nam, the organization has existed. And it's one of those times that, you know, you think about, and we've been thinking about this, you know, anniversary or NAM anniversary, if you're gonna call it for a couple years now. And, you know, it's, it's one of those that you celebrate, but you really think about like. What does 125 years bring? And so the, the, the, the large thought behind the show and then the, the excitement and the energy that we're bringing, and we've been thinking about long before, you know, all the, kind of, [00:04:00] the rollercoaster this year has been for, for business and in, in a lot of ways.
Is you look back at the history and it's, it's a history of resilience and it's a history of just constantly evolving and overcoming and adapting, having, um, musical genres, innovation, um, come up. Fast, go away fast. Uh, having products be on top of the world one year and out of company, those companies out of business two years later because of a shift in musical genre or a competitor did it better.
And it's just an incredible story of, of innovation and timeline and. As we, as we looked at that and, and yes, we're gonna be presenting some cool things and, and a new timeline of the industry and with some other things we're gonna present at the NA show to kind of celebrate this. I'll tell you where my head's at is what a better time, you know, to celebrate like resiliency and [00:05:00] adaptability than now with obviously we've had to be resilient this year with. Um, I won't use the T word, but, uh, the, which is tariff of course, I will say, but I'll say that, uh, um, uh, I'll talk about just the, just the abrupt changes of international trade rules and, and, and on, on all sides. And, and that's been a, a tumultuous year for our industry, but also obviously with, you know, the new threat that is ai.
And I say the new threat because there's been lots of threats and threats become opportunities somewhere on the timeline. Um, and so, you know, when we start calling an opportunity, um, but it's a perfect year to kind of tackle these things and remind ourselves how much we've. As an industry, uh, and, and as an industry unlike and like different than other industries that we have overcome.
'cause I, you know, I won't name names, but if you look at other industries and other associations, they have not been around for this long. And I think there's a resiliency to music makers. I think there's a [00:06:00] passion and I think, uh, and I know we're an industry that though there's a lot of competitors. Come together at the NAM Show and there's a lot of competitors that look to Nam to help their business grow.
At the end of the day, what the beautiful thing of Nam is, is you can look over at the bar and see like fierce competitors having a beer together. And it's because like we all realize that more musicians is a really good thing for everyone. And so that's, those are kind of the themes that we're really playing on going into this hundred 25th year.
[00:06:31] Sean Martin: Well, it's funny, I'm, I'll pass it to Marco 'cause the, the thing that strikes me is we are all coming together for the passion of music, which, funny enough, for me at least, gives me a sense and an ability to have a sense of resilience. So music fills me with, with warmth and, and the ability to say I can get through that.
So it's kind of a full circle, full circle moment. Mark, Marco, I think you have the same, same kind of view on it, right?
[00:06:59] Marco Ciappelli: [00:07:00] It was a, that song back in the eighties said, DJ saved my life last night. A DJ saved my life. I think that music in general is part of everybody's life and moods, and it is not just about going out and party, go to the concert, which is fun, but it's, it's in our blood. And I think that's maybe being philosophical here 'cause that's what I do best, or at least the most.
Maybe that's the reason why it's been around for 125 years now. And, and because it's no matter what, no matter what electronic you bring in, no matter what digital, you're still gonna be that. I mean, I saw the cover, um, for a guitar last night that I brought in Italy, and this guy came and he is like, I have 37 guitars.
And I'm like, holy shit. And, and I'm like, are you a professional
[00:07:50] Sean Martin: He needs another one.
[00:07:51] Marco Ciappelli: is like, no, I just. I just play. It's just like it's what I, what I do when I'm done working. It's my meditation and [00:08:00] it's incredible, the passion, and it is not just for, it's not just for the professional. I think it's for everyone.
[00:08:06] John Mlynczak: And in music, music is lasting forever. Like music is everlasting. So no matter what happens in our industry, it evolves forward in 1901. If we had started the National Association of Horse Whips or Horse carriages or ICE Block delivery service, we'd probably have been outta business in the next 20 or 30 years.
And, and, but we're the National Association of Music. And so that, that's never going out of business. It changes. It evolves. But that's one thing that we, you know, uh, we don't take for granted at Nam. 'cause yes, we're talking about the NAM show, but the Nam show is, I mean, the most important thing that we do as Nam, but we celebrate being the association that's, that is focused every day on helping this industry thrive and grow.
Um. This has been a year where we've been able to do that. I mean, you know, like from association work standpoint, um, I, I'll say NAM members, you need your association all the [00:09:00] time. Always, always, always with my preference. But people don't generally look to needing their association when everything's great. When things are not great, they really look to needing their association. So you this year. Yes, monthly tariff, working groups, articles, lobbying in dc working with different companies, sorting out a partner with different, you know, making sure we're the voice of our association and partner with other associations.
All, all, we've been just doing so much work on this particular topic, not to mention department of education and every, all the things have been happening. It's been a good year to remind our members what we're capable of, and quite frankly, remind us and our staff and our team what we're capable of. You know, there's something I've been saying internally for a while.
It's been a little. Um, busy this year, but what we did the past 10 months will be remembered for the next 10 years, and we have to seize that opportunity to say like, this is why we've been around 125 years. Because we will pivot, [00:10:00] adapt, and we've created more new working groups and coalitions and more initiatives internally.
Than we would've ever. We didn't have a strategic plan for 2025 that says Create tariff groups, add live in dc We're multiple coalitions, multiple webinars. That was not in any of our plans, but that's okay. And I think that's quite frankly the, the future of what we have to do. And so you'll feel that energy at the NAM show.
And I, I, I mentioned this too, back to the Nam show because when people come together in person sort of after that year, it. You'll feel that. And I'm excited to have people say, oh my gosh, I'm so good to see you. And remember we had this thing in April. I appreciate what you did in June. It's really good to have that, that energy around the show.
[00:10:44] Sean Martin: Yeah, and it's infectious. I still carry last year, so I can only imagine, uh, what 125, uh, celebration of NAM will bring to, to the event. Um,
[00:10:53] Marco Ciappelli: let, let's look into that. What can you, what can you tease?
[00:10:57] John Mlynczak: What can I tease? This is a little early. [00:11:00] Um, I can only tease what's been publicly released, so I, I can, I'll share some. I think one thing that's really exciting and is innovation and. I'll say over the past six months, a lot of companies, particularly I think especially manufacturers, have been in defensive mode because they're trying to figure out all the impacts of everything that's gonna happen.
Um, and I'll be the first to admit that I, I know companies I've talked to have said, you know, I had to push a product release back because. Couldn't figure out how to get the current product in and the materials and blah, blah, blah. But now suddenly there's been this shift and really in the past month and now, and I think I, and I, I know it's that, like that NAM show, it's like, oh, the NAM show's coming up.
People are, your eyes are open. The amount of innovation that's like flooding right now is so exciting. 'cause you'd asked me two months ago. Or between two months ago and, and eight months ago, I was like, yeah, we're not innovating. We're in defensive mode. We're not gonna have as many product launches. It's gonna be sort of a year that we're working [00:12:00] together through the struggle.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. as we get closer to the Nam show, companies are showing up with like our, our phones are blowing up and our, our meetings and our team about like, we wanna show this, we wanna show this. Um, so we're gonna have like, absolutely incredible innovation. The, the long story is, I was so worried that we weren't gonna have, but the product releases the innovation, it's coming out.
And so it's gonna be a really exciting year 'cause companies are, are back in that mode and, and I think always like the, the hold back a little bit and having that come later with a bigger burst is actually gonna create this sort of like energy bubble that's gonna be really cool. So you'll see lots of product innovations,
[00:12:42] Sean Martin: Can I, can I ask you something about that before you move on, John? Because I, I'm curious. We, Marco and I look at a dumber of different industries. Uh, certainly broader tech and, uh, we're looking at healthcare and, and agriculture and smart, a bunch of things. And my view is that a lot of it. A lot of [00:13:00] the technologies sound the same, and it's hard for companies to differentiate from each other.
I'm wondering what you're seeing in, in the world of music and the world of music technology and the innovations that are coming do, do you see really unique and differentiated capabilities coming out?
[00:13:17] John Mlynczak: That's such a good question because I, I look at a lot of these product launches I led in in our industry. It is interesting because there's not you fundamentally, there are some instruments that are always gonna have six strings and. Between 18 and 24 frets. I'm not naming any particular instrument, just spitballing here.
Um, but you know, so like, but then there's this incredible level of innovation that happens around this. So how do you innovate in that way? How do you keep excitement? How do you make consumers buy 37 of these instead of just one of these? Um, and you're right, like there are some things that are just fundamental to what, what, um, listeners expect to hear.
But at the same time, I'll tell you what I've seen. The biggest trend right now, and maybe this is [00:14:00] where uh, companies differentiate themselves from AI is, is artist and influencers. It's, if you look at what's coming out on maybe product lines that. Or, or have very distinct features that are never gonna change.
It's artist models, it's artist collaborations. It's that storytelling around why that came up. Uh, that's what's driving it. The artist influencer, collaboration around products is key. And I think that's where we see that growth all over. Nam, I see that in, you know, the conversations we're having right now.
And I can tell you like the big teaser, and I can't name names yet, but the artists. Game at the NAM show is gonna be bigger than ever. And part of that's because we at NAM recognize that companies want that. So we've increased, we've doubled our artist relation partnerships. We've gone after this in a huge way.
But also because companies are all now [00:15:00] on the artist relation, influencer brand strategy. That's how you get a brand to consumer. You show someone play in it. So what's exciting for us is we're, we're. We're getting way more of, I want this artist is gonna show up at this event all with this product instead of, Hey, we're gonna show this product.
And, and no offense to product managers, I love product managers and I love product developers. You are the people that make these things and, and make 'em amazing. We love you. But when we have traditionally, like my product, my product manager is gonna show up and demo the product. I have this artist that. You know, millions of people follow, showed up to demo their product. Those are different conversations and we're definitely hearing the, the artist side of this in a really exciting way.
[00:15:47] Sean Martin: cool. I've, I've seen similar news, uh, a number of feeds and I see Yeah, a lot of the artist, uh, lot of, yeah. Artist branded, co-branded, uh, partnership deals. Uh, yeah. Even on [00:16:00] marketplaces, you see it all over the place too. Yeah.
[00:16:02] John Mlynczak: It's all over. And maybe it's a, back to your point about di how do you differentiate? I mean, that's the differentiating piece. I mean, you could make a thing and you can make it in a color and you know, and you could put some of the knobs in different places and all of that. But at the end of the day, I think, um.
People are really pushing that human connection. Like, and I, I think social media has changed the game in a huge way. 'cause you can have a really deep relationship with an artist. It's not an advertisement. I mean, I follow people on TikTok, on Instagram and like just seeing like a, a really organic reel of someone being like, Hey, and then like just, I feel like I know that person.
I think I'm part of their daily life. I see there are three posts a day. Like I connect to that person and then you build that trust. And that's, that's what the next generation expects. That's how they're making decisions on what products they want. They want trust, they want authenticity. Um, and I think that's where the AI hype is gonna sort of, you know, there's, you know, sometimes [00:17:00] things are a trend, sometimes things are a fad.
I think this is definitely a trend wrapped in a. Big like fad wrapper, that's gonna gonna fall off a little bit. I think. So when the, when the hype kind of settles down, I think we're gonna realize like what auten authenticity is, um, and what maybe is not so authentic, but maybe doesn't need to be.
[00:17:23] Marco Ciappelli: Yeah. I, I, I love what you just said because it feels like a broken record in, in my, in my head because I talk with writers that have a big AI problem. I talk with people that create art in general, and I think a lot of people, we, we do agree that it's, it's, maybe it's the price that we're paying, it's breaking thing to maybe make it.
Art better. Um, it's kind of like a wake up call to say, look, you can put as much technology you want, as you said, but then in the end is who, who is composing something? What is the feelings that it puts into that song, into the [00:18:00] photo, into the painting, into the book, right. It, it's that experience that come through, and I think that reflect on what you said about the brand.
The brand at this point is the people. It, it's not, you can't just say the brand is this. No, the brand is what you show me this. And that's why the CEOs, the personal branding is so important. And, and I just wonder, you know, if, if there was a name 1, 1, 1 year, that, that there is not technological innovation.
Everything. Like in this hypothetical world, it stays the same, right? And, and you're just changing the colors and where you put the nos, but. I think it'll still be parked and people will still like talk about it. You know what I mean?
[00:18:42] John Mlynczak: people wanna innovate. I mean, people want to. Innovate, they have a desire. Uh, 'cause musicians, were tinkerers too. We're all looking for our own authentic sound. I mean, we all want to be authentic. Like, sure, we wanna play like our idol, but we would, we really wanna play like our idol, but in our own authentic way.
[00:19:00] And that's that drive for like, and I, I love that 'cause you get to this super high level musician, maybe the knob in a different place or this other pedal or this other sound or this other workflow. On the, on the software side, just the idea of like. A different workflow speeds me up and now I have some, you know, authentic advantage and I think people always thrive for that.
I, that is why music in our industry is so great because it's never good enough and there's no such thing as perfection. It is an endless drive. It is that, what is that curve that just never gets straight and that it is that. That's what it is. And I think that's what drives all of this innovation and we think a lot about that.
I'll give you, you know, you asked about like Nam Show 26, what we've been kind of working on. You know, my first year I was thinking a lot about like, oh gosh, what is Nam after the pandemic and this and that? And you know, this line we came up with is we're not in the music products industry. We're in the music people industry.
And we've really started thinking about what does the music [00:20:00] people industry need from Nam in a nam show. And so we, this year. When everyone goes to register for the NAM show, you'll see you're gonna see. I have to create an account@nam.org. I say there's no such thing as guest checkout. You gotta have an account to get a badge.
So you create an account@dashboardnam.org. You answer some questions and then you proceed to register and you register for the show. Uh, and then the app, which is live Now you can go in the app, you can see all the sessions, but you can also put in your email and the app pulls, knows who you are from your registration, and all of a sudden you can.
Plan out all your schedule and do all your sessions and all of that. So this is a really nice user experience. So people can, um, first of all get through register, um, quickly. They have a good experience on the app. They can make plans and they can, you know, save their sessions and favorite their booths and have their plan.
But under the hood, from a data standpoint, we at Nam like realize we need to understand. What's happening at the show? Who is [00:21:00] there in order to provide a really amazing experience for every individual at the show, we need to know every individual at the show. So spoiler alert, under the hood, when you create that account at Nam, everything you do across any other system is centralized.
Back to na. It's, it's, that's really important for us. I mean, you're a tech ass, you know what I mean by that? But like that, that user now starts and ends at nam. The only data the other partners get is only what they need to, you know, do the functions they need. Nam is, you know, everything's secure with Nam.
But also we now have a really comprehensive picture on what people are doing at the NAM show. That picture can be taken and divided and sliced by everyone in that's interested in fretted products versus percussion products versus pro audio versus recording. That can be sliced by people who are teachers versus product managers versus CEOs [00:22:00] versus bow makers.
Uh, that can be sliced by people, like what type of music people listen to that can be sliced of how long they've been in the industry. And that's, that's really powerful for us 'cause we can learn what is happening and how it makes it more beneficial for everyone. 'cause you have 70 plus thousand people in Anaheim.
That's a really big herd. To track, but if we can, if we can actually have 70,000 individual profiles and understand that these 500 have this in common and these 200 have this in common, so we're, we're at that level this year. And so what we're able to learn and how quickly we're able to evolve the show in 27 and 28 and what we're able to do between.
Sam shows ongoing webinars, ongoing member benefits, ongoing, um, interactions, networking, whether in person or online. All the things we, we do between the shows, um, [00:23:00] is, is going to be more sophisticated than it's ever been.
[00:23:04] Marco Ciappelli: Listen, uh, Sean, I got, I gotta stop you because I, I gotta follow through quickly. Education. You kind of touched on it right now and, and I know how passionate you are about it. I know how much the organization does for it throughout the year. I remember we talked about last year as well, you have 200 plus education station.
Can you, can you touch on that? 'cause I think that's important.
[00:23:29] John Mlynczak: Thank you so much, Marco. The, the edu and education is, is, is key and it's just what drives a lot of people to the show. That's why we have a five day show. And so one thing you'll see Tuesday and Wednesday of this year is we have. More sessions, way more sessions than we had last year. Last year, adding education, Tuesday and Wednesday was an experiment and we admittedly underestimated because we were turning people away and we didn't have enough room.
So we have, I mean there's way more sessions on those days as well as Thursday, Friday, Saturday, uh, we've also [00:24:00] introduced a new level of education. 'cause we provided education for so more years now. We have people that wanna level up, so we have. Half day and full day summits that we're introducing this year on Tuesday and Wednesday, where people can go in depth with a really high level presenter or more, or a couple sessions where they can really dive deep in a topic.
And the summits as well as the over 200 sessions that happen throughout the show are very strategically. Put together around community. So what our team does, and we have a large team that thinks about this, is really sit down and say, okay, what does the pro audio audio community need and get out of this?
What does the educator education community need and get out of the show. What does, you know, the, the, the marketing professional need and get out of the show. What does the retailer need? And get outta the show. We go like community by community, so it's not just like 200 sessions and I hope. There's something for everyone.
We, we envision [00:25:00] and track now with data, what does a retailer of a certain size with certain number of employees, what does that retailer get? Are they getting everything they need? So it's really down to that level. Um, and we really wanna make sure everyone has a place to get education and education at the level they need. So it's differentiating. I mean, it's 70,000 people that, in that there will be 70,000 unique experiences that happen at the show. So we are making sure that each individual has a path and we have a way to measure if it's successful.
[00:25:37] Sean Martin: I can, I can, as you're talking about the, I can picture the, uh, the ukulele, uh, session out in the courtyard
[00:25:42] John Mlynczak: Yeah.
[00:25:43] Sean Martin: tea teaching people to play the ukulele. It's really cool. That's just one, one example. Um, at, at the heart of all this is, um, a story and I, I think art has a story. Each person has a story. The technology has a, and the products have a story.
And that all comes [00:26:00] together. And we each, as you're pointing out, that creates our own individual stories as we engage, uh, with, with other people at the event and, and the, the things we're seeing at the event. So I'm wondering what, um, that, that's driven by. I, I just learned there's an obelisk in, uh, central Park that I walk by once or twice a day, every multiple times a week.
And I didn't. I saw it, didn't really appreciate it until I learned about its story and its journey from Egypt to Central Park and, and the, the travels that it experienced. I have a different appreciation for now. So an understanding connection with others, I heard that story from somebody else, gave me a different appreciation for what I see every day.
Um, so with the, the idea of stories and storytelling and creating stories, what's your view for the story for this year's event?
[00:26:51] John Mlynczak: Yeah, the story, that's a amazing, amazing question. If you look at like, you know, the story behind this year's [00:27:00] event, you know, the NAM show every year, and I made this analogy last year. You know, I'm a, I'm a wine guy, and we all know that you have your favorite makers. But, uh, 2017 and a 2018 and a 2014 are three completely different bottles.
Same maker, same land, same plot, you know, uh, and you think about like 20, 26 and the music industry, we're in a very different place in 26 than we were in 25. And the story behind Nam every year, the NAM story should be crafted around the 2026 story is crafted around January. Through December of 2026, not 25, and that that's the way we think explicitly.
It's not a reunion or a celebration or a woe from what happened before, but it's that 20. What does 2026 bring and what do we need to be educated on? What do our companies need to present? And who do they need to meet [00:28:00] with and what experiences do they need to create to be successful in that year? And so the story of 2026 is, uh.
Digital innovation. Um, every brand is now, you know, the Instagram direct marketing strategy was kind of, everyone's on that, on that train. Now everyone's looking for a way to authentically connect with their customer and create an energy that includes every touch point of that, that products brand, including in retail, including online, and sort of that sort of like, like omnichannel connection.
Everyone's focused on that, and so that's. That's a lot of the story. If you attend Nam or if you're like watching all the different influencer coverage that's happening in at Nam, 'cause you can now watch Nam live through over a thousand different influencers that are there. So you can, you know, just get a live, you'll, you'll see this, you'll see the story of what are we focused on for this [00:29:00] year.
Um, and that's what excites me most because for us, like people ask me, what does Nam get outta Nam? Like as an organization, like, we use NAM to get a broad snapshot of where our industry is going because as the association, our job is to help our industry. Be successful. And so if we know where the industry's leaning, you know, our job is to, to help in that direction.
So how do we know that? We look at what products are being launched, we look at who's meeting with who. We look at who's attending either, what sessions are being attended the most and least, and where, where people's interest are. So that's, that's, that answers your question. That's, that's the story we wanna craft.
The story is about the future. Every NAM show is a springboard for that year.
[00:29:45] Sean Martin: Yeah, I know Marco has something to close, but I'm, I'm gonna connect the marketing and the influencers 'cause those connecting the products to the consumer and the consumer through audio, uh, through influencers, kind. Really building [00:30:00] that connection to the brand. And, uh, so that, that really highlights it for me as well.
[00:30:05] Marco Ciappelli: Well, I think you, you, you give me a great ask. I, I love stories. I write stories. I, I'm all about storytelling. I always say we're all made of stories as human, right? So I think what you said is great. 'cause it's hard to predict. I feel like. The story's gonna write itself probably on now. There're probably gonna be stories inside a story and, and you just can't predict it.
So actually that's where AI comes useful. Maybe when you look at the data and you see what, what story actually happened. I, I, I, I don't dislike AI when you analyze and help us to understand, um, as much as when it doesn't allow us to be creative on our own. So, um, I, I can't wait to be part of these stories to tell more stories.
With, uh, with you and with everybody else on the organization are gonna come. I'd love to talk more about people involved in the education, but as well [00:31:00] as companies. And I think, uh, people can tell that Sean and I are extremely, extremely excited about this. So, um, I wanna thank you again for your time.
[00:31:10] John Mlynczak: Yeah, no, thank y'all too, and I'll, I'll make a shameless. Plug for everyone listening to this, you know, the energy at the NAM show. I mean, if you've never been to a NAM show, if you're thinking about coming to the NAM show, if you do anything in this industry, if you're connected to music products in any way.
You're welcome at the NAM Show. You can go to nam.org, you can create an account. We have a qualified attendee path to attend the NAM show. Of course, you can attend through, you know, connections of various partners. But you know, the Nam Show is a place where there's an incredible energy around creativity and, and there's nothing more powerful than getting together in person.
It's kinda like a band getting in a studio and focusing, and there this energy's created, and over a week this energy creates this like. Epic album, that Outlast time, that album was created because of an energy, [00:32:00] a space, and an energy that that existed to allow creativity to happen in more powerful ways we ever imagined.
That's what the Nam show does for five days and when you're there. You're part of that energy in your mind. Everyone is open to new ideas. Everyone is looking for ways to explore and create, and there's an energy there that you just, you, you can't get. If you're not there, you can watch it. You can see what happened.
You can see the product releases, you can see stories, and all of that's amazing. But if you want to propel your career or your life and you have to be part of that energy. 'cause it just, it's like it opens up your mind and your heart as soon as you walk on and it's like, oh, I can do more now than I ever could before.
So come to the Nam Show. Feel the energy.
[00:32:48] Sean Martin: And I can, uh, say with a hundred percent confidence that you're spot on, John. And it, it's, I cover a lot of events and most of them, I feel like I, I spent a lot of energy [00:33:00] at Nam. I walked away being full of energy, so I was part of the energy and I brought energy back with me. And again, it's all rooted in music.
Um, creating, enjoying. Uh, participating, talking about it, hearing it, uh, it, it's all there and I can't wait to get, get on site in Anaheim, uh, for the, uh, what are the dates here? We got, uh, I just lost the
[00:33:23] John Mlynczak: 20 through 24th of January.
[00:33:27] Sean Martin: 24. I had had the details sessions up. There we go. 20th, 24 and I'm convention center in SoCal.
I'm gonna make the trek from, uh, east coast, back west and, uh, enjoy, hopefully some sun and, uh, and tons of good people. And looking forward to seeing you, John, and, uh, all the rest of the team from Nam that week.
[00:33:46] John Mlynczak: Thank y'all so much. I'll see you there.
[00:33:49] Sean Martin: And thanks everybody for listening, watching, and, uh, stay tuned for more from Nho 2026 in, uh, Southern California. And, uh, we'll, we'll, uh, keep you [00:34:00] posted on what's going on there and there'll be links in the show notes for, uh, registration and becoming a member if you want. And, uh, all the rest of our coverage as well.
Thanks everybody.
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