The NAMM Show starts next Thursday for the retail and wholesale music industry. Many of you still ask if it's open to the public and it's not. In fact, last year,and even more so this year, all badged entry must be accompanied with a drivers license or other picture ID. The show is for the manufactures to show their stuff and for store buyers to purchase for the new year. Unfortunately for owners like myself, the show has become less for buying and more for just seing and touching. If this is the intention, I'm for having the public come in at least the last day and getting to see the products, much like the Automobile industry does. I personaly have become tired of fighting the crowds of people who are not affiliated with a store or manufacturer and prefer the old days when the show was a lot smaller.

The sad issue for me this year is that there will not be a Ketron booth, and as I've seen on the NAMM website, there will also not be a Generalmusic booth. When lesser known arranger keyboards choose not to show their stuff, it often doesn't help stores decide to sell these lesser known brands. I hope this doesn't hurt Ketron and GEM in their efforts.

I had an email from Ted Kraus at CMC Distributors, the Ketron Distributor here in the USA and he informs me that he personally might attend the show but there would be no keyboards on display.

This will be my 39th NAMM show and I too will only attend one day this year.
I don't expect much in the world of new products because of the economy, but maybe a few good new things will surprise us.
In the past years I've enjoyed reporting to you all everything I've seen and my initial impressions. This year, I will only be going on the last day, Sunday, so if I see anything cool, I will report then.


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com