The 48th annual NARM show is officially underway at the spectacular new Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, FL with over 1,300 expected attendees. Established in 1958, NJ-based National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) is a not-for-profit trade association that serves the music retailing community in the areas of networking, advocacy, information, education and promotion. NARM's members operate 7,000 storefronts that account for almost 85 percent of the music sold in the 12 billion U.S. music market.
If you're not familiar with what some insiders call "the event of the year", InSights & Sounds 06 is a 4-day conference where the industry comes to do business and prepare for the fourth quarter. Jim Donio, NARM president, states "Its mission is to help you meet the future armed with new business partners, critical analysis, fresh ideas and the camaraderie of a shared passion for music." Through multiple panel discussions, presentations and keynotes, valuable insights from the entertainment industry's top leaders are shared with members and attendees. All of this information is designed to give you an overview of where the industry is now, where it's going and where it could be. In addition, there's an eclectic line-up of established and undiscovered world class performing artists. Tonight's performances start at 9:30pm:
- Paolo Nutini, Atlantic Records
- PF Sloan, Hightone Records/Rhino
- Lupe Fiasco, 1st & 15th / Atlantic Records
- Tego Calderon, Jiggiri / Atlantic Records
Today's afternoon action started with a morphed version of Speed Dating from 2-5pm, where one-on-one meeting opportunities were arranged in advance to easily help you discover and develop important business contacts. This year, NARM has extended these unique meetings to last 3 days and participants can use this focused time to get to know potential new trading partners.
One innovative new product I learned about was from Marware. The company has invented a retractable cord wrap and stand for the video iPod called the Sidewinder.Very cool! Also, the well stuffed conference goodie bag had 10 Cd's, 1 cassette, a live double DVD set from Jimmy Buffet, a t-shirt and more...
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