ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5 and TWISTED SISTER guitarist Eddie Ojeda were guests on a recent episode of the "Hangin' & Bangin': Artists On Lockdown" online show, where they were joined by Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO), Carmine Appice (OZZY OSBOURNE, VANILLA FUDGE) and host Ron Onesti. During the wide-ranging chat, they discussed the recent announcement by producers of the annual music convention NAMM Show that its normal January date was being postponed to June 3-5, 2022 at the Anaheim Convention Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each year, over 100,000 musicians, instrument makers, vendors, educators and more from all over the world come together in Anaheim to celebrate the latest in entertainment technology during the NAMM (which stands for National Association of Music Merchants) event, which is not open to the general public. John 5 said: "I think personally that… NAMM's been going on since around, like, 1955 or '56, but you know what? I don't think NAMM's gonna last much longer, you guys. I know it sounds terrible to say. And not because of coronavirus or anything like that. But I just think it's so expensive to put on for these companies. I really don't think it's gonna hold on much longer. What do I know? But just seeing how things are going, probably another five years or something." Ojeda chimed in: "Like John said, it's very expensive. I'm friends with the Ash brothers, and it cost them like a half million dollars to do NAMM." Continued John 5: "If you guys think about [it], when they had this lockdown, they were still selling instruments. And they probably made the same amount of money and probably saved some money just by not doing NAMM. Who knows?" The largest NAMM Show in the history of the organization took place in January 2020, when the Show welcomed 115,888 members and industry professionals and more than 7,000 brands. The show also hosted 350 professional development sessions, numerous live events, networking opportunities and concerts each evening on the Grand Plaza, as presented by Yamaha. With the move of the 2022 NAMM Show to June, the organization has decided not to hold Summer NAMM in Nashville, Tennessee, for the 2022 year, effectively combining the two shows. "The move from January to June next year is due 100 percent to the pandemic, and there was a big likelihood we would have had to cancel our January 2022 show," NAMM president and CEO Joe Lamond told the San Diego Union-Tribune this past September. The 2021 NAMM Show became the first in the 120-year-old nonprofit business organization's history to be held entirely online. The global music equipment and technology industry had revenues of $17.3 billion in 2019, with U.S. sales accounting for nearly $8 billion. The total U.S. revenues for 2020 was $7.21 billion.
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