The Music Cities 150,000 YouTube subscribers

Where heavy metal is economic development.

Curated by The Music Cities — concerts, releases, the scene.

YouTube Radio
Get the App

Field Trip

NAMM Show 2027

January 26–30, 2027 — Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California

The music products industry's global gathering, and we're going. Not as an exhibitor — as credentialed media. NAMM is where the business of music shows its hand, and a channel built on the economics of music, metal, and music cities belongs in that room. This page is the plan: how we get in, and what we cover once we're there.

The show

Dates
Jan 26–30, 2027. Global Media Day Jan 27. Show floor open Thu–Sat, Jan 28–30.
Venue
Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California
How we get in
Media / creator badge — the media door, not the exhibitor door.
Status
Registration is open. Apply for the media credential early while they're being processed.

How we get in

  • NAMM has a formal media and influencer credential built for exactly this. It opens the Media Center, the Creator Lounge, and the Production Studios — dedicated space to shoot, edit, and upload on site.
  • They credential YouTubers and podcasters routinely. No published subscriber minimum — the bar is that they verify you as a working music-industry media outlet or creator.
  • Credential verification runs through John Dolak, NAMM's Director of Communications (johnd@namm.org). Apply through NAMM media registration.
  • Global Media Day is Jan 27 — press events and briefings before the floor opens.
  • We do not need a booth. Exhibiting means NAMM membership and four-figure booth fees, aimed at companies selling into the channel. The Production Studios exist so credentialed creators can record without renting floor space.

The angle

  • Frame the channel as economics-of-music and music-cities coverage. NAMM is a trade show about the business of music, and the NAMM Foundation pushes music-friendly-cities policy — a better editorial fit than the five-hundredth pedal-demo channel.
  • Interviews with specific brands and artists get arranged directly with their PR people in the weeks before the show. Once the badge is in hand, the booking work is just outreach.
  • The existing catalog plus that framing is the whole application.

Notes

  • Rough draft. The daily plan — media day, floor targets, interview slots — fills in here once the credential clears and PR bookings start.
  • Realistic cost: media badge (typically free), flights, and 3–4 nights in Anaheim at convention rates.