Is NAMM Still Worth It? (Or Are We Just Afraid to Ask?) 🎸✈️

Happy New Year! It already feels like Christmas never happened and NAMM 2025 kicks off in less than two weeks! Which of course means my LinkedIn feed is filling up with the usual pre show buzz. Product teases. Travel countdowns. "See you in Anaheim!" posts. 

For those outside the musical instruments world, NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) is the industry's flagship trade show, held every January in California. It's where brands launch products, dealers place orders, and the MI industry supposedly does its most important business of the year.

Or at least, that's what it used to be. 🙄

I'll be there too. I've been going since 2005 (minus the COVID years), so I'm not throwing stones from the sidelines. 

But for the last few years, as I book the flights and hotels, I ask myself: 

Is NAMM still the essential industry pilgrimage it once was, or have we just convinced ourselves it is because that's how it's always been done?

And if you're reading this thinking "I don't work in musical instruments," stick with me. There's almost certainly a similar show in your industry that's gone through exactly the same transformation.

After 20 years of walking those halls, let's be honest about what's changed. 

What NAMM was 30 years ago 📅

In the mid-90s, NAMM was genuinely essential. The only place to see new products before launch, build supplier relationships face to face, write orders, and discover emerging brands. The show floor was where deals got done. Handshakes meant something.

If you didn't go, you genuinely missed out.

Fast forward to 2025, and almost none of that is true anymore.

What's changed (spoiler: everything) 🌐

The show itself got smaller

NAMM used to run Thursday to Sunday. Post-COVID, it's three days. Walk the show floor now and you'll see huge spaces filled with coffee vendors rather than exhibitors. Booth spaces aren't even close to being filled.

And Hall E? Gone. That used to be one of the most fun parts, where you'd find crazy new products from emerging brands. I always headed down there before the show started on the last day to hunt for hidden gems and my favourite ‘The Metronome Man’. That discovery energy doesn't exist anymore.

The audience has changed

When I started in 2005, it was strictly trade only and absolutely rammed. Now, despite still being "trade only," there seem to be far more public and end users let in to make up for dwindling trade attendance. Add in the influx of influencers (now as important as traditional trade visitors, perhaps more so), and the show floor dynamic has fundamentally shifted.

Discovery happens online, relationships are year-round

Brands launch on Instagram at 6am, get 50,000 views by lunchtime, and take pre orders before doors open. YouTube demos reach more people with better sound than any booth could manage. WhatsApp and Zoom handle supplier relationships year round, not in 15 minute booth conversations with shredding in the background. 

Orders don't happen there anymore

How many genuine purchase orders are written on the show floor these days? Most "deals" are conversations that turn into emails weeks later. The real business happens before or after, not during.

The cost equation has flipped 💷

For a UK business: flights (£500–£1,000 per person), accommodation (£200–£300 per night), meals (£100+ per day), booth costs (£10k–£50k+), and minimum five days away from the business. 

The show's only three days. But UK exhibitors commit to five-plus days away, many longer when you factor in travel, setup, and breakdown.

For many smaller brands and retailers, that's a month's marketing budget. For some small companies, it's easily their entire year's budget spent on three days in California. 🤯 

Even the biggest players are questioning it

 Fender stepped back from exhibiting at NAMM in 2020 and hasn't returned since, pivoting to digital dealer events instead of traditional booth displays.

Walking the show floor without Fender feels genuinely odd. I understand the decision, given what they must have spent in the past on massive stands and staff. But it seems a shame they're not there even in a reduced capacity. More importantly, if Fender doesn't think NAMM justifies the investment, what does that tell the rest of us?

The brutal question nobody wants to ask 🤔

How many brands and retailers attend NAMM out of genuine strategic value versus FOMO?

I'd wager the ratio is about 30/70. The fear of not being there, of missing out, of looking less serious drives as many bookings as actual business need.

It's the industry equivalent of "this is how we've always done it" and we know how dangerous that can be.

What NAMM still does well ✅

Face-to-face energy that Zoom can't replicate. Serendipitous discoveries. Community and reconnection. And yes, having a booth still signals you're a "serious" brand. But those benefits don't automatically justify the cost for everyone.

The uncomfortable truths 🤔

For exhibitors: How many booth visitors actually convert to business? Could that £30k deliver better returns through creator partnerships? Are you there because it moves the needle or because everyone expects it?

I've seen brands pour five figures into a booth, generate some average Instagram content... and then nothing. No sales lift. No new distribution.

For attendees: How many products did you discover last year that you couldn't have found online? You're still five-plus days away from your business and loved ones. For smaller operations, that absence has a real cost. 

The regional alternative 🇬🇧

Regional shows like Guitar Summit and the UK Guitar Show are increasingly attractive: lower cost, less travel, easier to justify the ROI. For many UK brands, it makes more sense to invest heavily closer to home than blow the budget on California. 

So... should you go? 🤷

 I keep going. Twenty years+ running. So clearly I still see value.

And honestly? I'm looking forward to NAMM this year. There are some huge projects and partnerships shaping up for 2025, and I genuinely enjoy catching up with people I don't see often enough. That's real value.

But what I get from NAMM today is completely different from 2005. 

Then: Days packed with retailer and distributor meetings. Business got done. Orders got written.

Now: I spend as much time doing booth walkthrough videos with influencers as I do in meetings. Content creation has become as important as commerce, possibly more so.

Ask yourself honestly:

Will attending generate measurable business?

Is your presence essential to positioning?

Could that budget create better returns elsewhere? Is this strategic or just tradition and FOMO?

If the answers are "yes," go. NAMM can deliver real value with the right strategy.

But if you're going because you feel like you have to, because everyone else is... maybe it's time to question that.

The line in the sand ⚠️

NAMM is a tool. It's only as valuable as how you use it. But the industry needs to stop treating it as a sacred cow and start treating it as a ruthless, ROI-focused business decision.

I'll be there in two weeks. But I'm going with clear objectives, pre booked meetings, and a ruthless filter for what's worth my time versus noise and FOMO.

Because the businesses that win won't be the ones who blindly follow tradition. They'll be the ones who ask hard questions and put their time and money where it creates measurable value.

So here's my question:

👉 Are you attending NAMM 2025 because it's genuinely essential to your business, or because it's just what we've always done? And if you're going, what's your actual strategy beyond "be there and see what happens"?

Let me know your thoughts I’d love to hear them.

See you on the show floor, I'll be at the JET/Spira/Flight booth #5437