Mergers, partnerships and video games pervaded the 2008 NAMM Show

The biggest product at the 2008 NAMM Show wasn’t a musical instrument, and it didn’t have a formal exhibit. Yet Guitar Hero dominated supplier booths and show floor conversation from Jan. 17–20 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Talk centered around how to harness Red Octane’s popular video game and its competing counterpart, Rock Band, in converting video gamers into real musicians.

“We ended up bringing in about 150 people to [our Guitar Hero II tournament],” said James Bethea of Baton Rouge, La.-based The Perfect Bass/The Perfect Guitar. “We had high traffic in the store on the day of the event and better than average sales.”

Many suppliers featured the video games at their booths to draw attention while others launched peripheral products. Hal Leonard received top honors during the closing NAMM University breakfast session, “Best In Show,” for its new Guitar Hero and Rock Band songbooks. Allegro Multimedia and SoundTech partnered up to debut Guitar Wizard, a similar video game with one major point of departure: players use real guitars. {more}

(Click here to download a PDF of the full print version)