VISIONARY - Music Inc. Magazine

MUSIC ADVOCACY I BY GREG & GRANT BILLINGS
NAMM, INDUSTRY VOLUNTEERS
BATTLE COUNTERFEITERS
Forty music retailers
and suppliers joined
NAMM in Washington,
D.C., in mid-May
to fight counterfeiting
and promote music education.
During the annual NAMM
Advocacy Fly-In event, industry
personnel had more than
80 meetings with members of
Congress and Department of Education
officials. There, NAMM
and its volunteers sought legislation
to protect manufacturers
and consumers from counterfeit
products and made the case for
stronger support of music programs
in the pending Elementary
and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA) legislation.
“NAMM could not have
chosen a better time to be in
Washington, D.C., this year to
advocate for both music education
and IP [intellectual property]
issues,” said Rick Young, senior
vice president of Yamaha Corp. of
26 I MUSIC INC. I JULY 2011
America. “These topics are on the
minds of our elected representatives
right now, and we may see
some good movement on ESEA
reauthorization and IP legislation
in 2011 and 2012.”
FIGHTING FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Jim D’Addario, chairman and
CEO of D’Addario, spearheaded
the Fly-In’s IP advocacy efforts
and said counterfeiters pose “a
serious long-term threat” to his
company’s brand equity.
“Based primarily in China, the
counterfeiters have gotten very
good at duplicating packaging
for products like ours,” he said.
“Unfortunately, they have paid
more attention to the ‘cover of
the book’ and not the contents.
The quality of strings they put in
packages with our brand name
and a made-in-the-U.S.A. marking
is grossly inferior — in fact,
defective. As these products make
their way into markets around
the world, they will erode our
brand equity.”
He added that this is a global
issue that affects all music product
companies, not just string
manufacturers.
“NAMM has always been focused
on making sure that Congress
recognizes the importance
and value of music education
to our industry and society as a
whole,” said Barbara Wight, chief
financial officer of Taylor Guitars.
“This year, we added a second
message about the importance of
intellectual property protection
and the role that IP plays in jobs
and economic security for our
industry. Both of these messages
were heard loud and clear by our
lawmakers.”
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT
NAMM also got help from
some big names, including
former New York Yankee Bernie
Williams, who joined in the
NAMM’s advocacy team at this year’s Fly-In event
advocacy process. Tony Bennett
and Gavin DeGraw spoke about
the importance of music and arts
education at a reception co-hosted
by NAMM and the VH1 Save the
Music Foundation.
“We had tremendous visits
and speeches with Gavin De-
Graw and Tony Bennett, who
movingly lent their weight to
our advocacy goals,” said Brian
Reardon, owner of Monster
Music in Levittown, N.Y. “But
then Bernie [Williams] took to
the podium — no bat, no guitar
this time — just his words, and
they will never leave me. As he
stood before this room of NAMM
delegates, congressional staffers
and members of Congress, Bernie
was reflecting on the day we had
just completed. He adjusted the
microphone and said, ‘Today, I
have just spent one of the coolest
days of my entire life.’ This
four-time World Series champ
and Grammy nominee expressing