The excitement is off the charts as the music industry’s most glamorous and charismatic figures (or so Pearson says) come together for their annual rite.

NARM DAY 1: RETAIL & COCKTAILS

Mark Pearson, Our Man in Chicago, Begins His Pilgrimage to the Annual Gathering of the Warriors of the Retail and Distribution Tribes
NARM kicked off in earnest Saturday night with two packed early cocktail parties, one in the UMGD, suite where veteran Mavis Takamoto was honored by Jim Urie and company with a funny and touching video tribute for her 25 years with the organization. The “official” cocktail party was once again hosted by Rhino.

Earlier in the day, there was a closed-to-the-press town hall meeting, with all of the major distributors and a number of major retailers voicing their opinions on the physical market and how to stop the bleeding. Anderson MerchandisersBill Lardie was not alone on the retail side when he cited price as the major concern. He also, not surprisingly, wants to grow the top of the chart, focusing on maximizing the potential of hit records.

New EMI distribution topper Dominic Pandiscia talked about the need to increase the artist/fan relationship with deluxe product. Kevin Twitchell spoke for Sony, with JJ Schaidler (although at the convention) preparing to leave the company and newly tapped Darren Stupak not yet sitting in the seat as the distributor’s top gun. Twitchell used Sony’s increase in selling physical product as the main reason their marketshare rocketed over the last year.

Candace Berry handled the presentation for UMGD, with the focus on their new Velocity pricing program. CIMSMichael Bunnell used the forum to point out that the indies were the last bastion of physical catalog. Trans World’s Bob Higgins once again talked about price and posited that, if all releases went to $10, the industry would see a 30% increase in physical the first year, 20% the next and another 10% the following year.

WEA’s Mike Jbara talked about how physical retail has to have an open mind and approach to new consumption models, rather than focusing all conversations and efforts on price. He then proceeded to tell the confab to look at this week’s HITS to read the rest of his thoughts.

Other tidbits from the convention floor included the news that DimplesDilyn Radakovitz had just signed a lease for her eighth location in Sacramento. The lease is for none other than Russ Solomon’s R5 retail outlet, which is the original Tower store on 16th St. Solomon has apparently decided to call it a career and gave the historic space to Dimples.

Later on, the suites began to rock, with standout performances from Universal Republic’s The Rescues, and J RecordsDaniel Merriweather, who was backed by acoustic guitar and keyboard and slayed the jaded industry crowd gathered in the Sony suite. Off-site, a huge buzz surrounded a club date by UMe’s Peter Wolf.

NEAR TRUTHS: OF MICE AND MEDIA
Welcome to the Mouse House. (11/1a)
NEAR TRUTHS:
BLUSH OF FAME
We'll drink to that. (11/1a)
HITS LIST: A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER
Strap in for the roller-coaster ride. (11/1a)
HOLLY GLEASON SNAGS SIX NATIONAL A&E JOURNO NOMS
Oops, she did it again. (10/30a)
TYLER IS HEADED TO THE TOP
Unconventional move by unconventional dude is paying off. (10/30a)
THE GRAMMY SHORT LIST
Who's already a lock?
COUNTRY'S NEWEST DISRUPTOR
Three chords and some truth you may not be ready for.
AI IS ALREADY EATING YOUR LUNCH
The kids can tell the difference... for now.
ALL THE WAY LIVE
The players, the tours, the enormous beers.
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