John Mlynczak: Why NAMM Still Matters in 2026 (The Tonearm Podcast : 288)

NAMM's president and CEO joins us to discuss his three-year rule for implementing change, the shift from traditional retail to influencer-driven content creation in the music industry, and why preparing students to thrive in a world that doesn't exist yet matters more than teaching techniques.

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We're putting The Tonearm's needle on John Mlynczak, President and CEO of the National Association of Music Merchants.

NAMM is the trade association for the music, sound, and event industries. Basically, NAMM represents the companies that make the tools your favorite music artists use to create their work.

John has spent years at Hal Leonard and PreSonus Audio, where music education meets technology. He built curricula, managed platforms, and taught teachers how to use tech in their classrooms.

Now he runs an organization that's rethinking what a trade show means when the music industry has gone digital. NAMM just celebrated its 125th anniversary, but John isn't interested in nostalgia. He's asking harder questions about how people discover instruments, how they learn to play them, and why gathering in person still matters when you can order anything online. The NAMM Show draws tens of thousands of people to Anaheim every January (this January 20 - 24, to be exact), and the numbers behind those crowds tell a story about content, influence, and how musicians connect with gear today.

We talk about John’s shift from teaching in Louisiana to shaping industry strategy, why music advocacy needs to be offensive rather than defensive, and what happens when trade shows have to prove their value in real time.

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[00:02:00] The MiniDisc Recorder Revelation
[00:04:46] How Students Actually Learn Music
[00:06:46] Building Music Technology Curriculum in Louisiana
[00:09:50] The Three-Year Rule for Change
[00:10:45] When Technology Serves Music Education
[00:12:29] Competing With Instant Gratification
[00:15:00] Learning in the YouTube Era
[00:17:32] The Role of Curiosity in Education
[00:19:00] Playing Offense in Music Advocacy
[00:21:17] Turning Students Into Advocates
[00:23:45] Why NAMM Still Matters
[00:30:22] The Changing Audience at NAMM
[00:34:41] What COVID Taught NAMM
[00:38:20] The Vision for NAMM 2026
[00:42:42] January: Still the Right Time
[00:43:32] What John's Hiring Says About NAMM's Future
[00:45:53] Technology Transformation at NAMM
[00:47:14] Advice to His Younger Self
[00:50:19] The Live Touring Boom

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Visit NAMM at → https://www.namm.org
and follow on [Instagram →   / nammshow  
Facebook →   / nammshow  
and LinkedIn →   / namm  

John Mlynczak's NAMM Profile → https://www.namm.org/johnmlynczak

For extensive show notes, links, and podcast information, go to https://podcast.thetonearm.com

Be sure to check out The Tonearm, an online music + culture magazine featuring fascinating perspectives and conversations with creative people → https://www.thetonearm.com

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