MSR Special

An Interview With Incoming NAMM Chairman

JOEL MENCHEY

By Brian Berk

Menchey Music Service president Joel Menchey is set to become NAMM chairman in July, succeeding C.F. Martin CEO Chris Martin. An official announcement is expected at the Summer NAMM Show. We reached out to Menchey to get his thoughts on being the next NAMM chairman, the state of his eight-store retail business in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and more.

Editor’s Note: To see comments from Chris Martin on being outgoing NAMM chairman, see “Five Minutes With” in the May issue.

The Retailer: Thank you for joining us. You have served on the NAMM board of directors for nearly six years. Can you tell us your thoughts on becoming NAMM chairman?

Joel Menchey: It has been a great six years so far. Joining ex comm [NAMM’s executive committee] in 2015 has exposed me to so much more of what is happening in the industry. It is the normal pattern. I started as secretary, treasurer and now vice chairman. What’s nice about the vice chair role — something that started with Chris Martin — is the vice chair is also vice chair of the NAMM Foundation, a 501c [non-profit organization], which has truly taken on a new level of importance. We are actively fundraising. Chairing that and having the opportunity to expand our opportunities with the help of Mary Luehrsen [director of public affairs and government relations at NAMM] has been a great two years. Obviously, the last 12 months have not been as great because we have limited opportunities to fundraise, but at the same time, Believe in Music Week turned out to be a great fundraising opportunity. I have had a lot of fun. I assume the next two years will be the icing on the cake serving the industry in the capacity of NAMM chair. It has been a great ride.

Joel Menchey (right) performs outside one of his stores.

The Retailer: NAMM plans to have an in-person Summer NAMM Show in Nashville in July. What are your feelings about that and what have told your employees about potentially attending?

Menchey: I think it is great we are planning to go to Nashville in the summer. Eighteen months [since the 2020 NAMM Show] is a long time not to see your friends. I am optimistic there will be a lot of pent-up demand that will fuel the trade show. We are not only having the Summer NAMM Show. We are partnering with a couple of partner organizations in the industry to make it a weeklong gathering. I am excited about its potential.

Regarding our employees, we would normally send four people to the summer show. If our employees feel comfortable attending, there are no reasons to feel we would not send them. We may even send more people because we normally send people to NASMD [the National Association of School Music Dealers show taking place right before Summer NAMM in Nashville]. As long as people feel safe traveling, we are prepared to send them.

The Retailer: You love playing at Nashville’s Hard Rock Café during Summer NAMM. Will you still be able to do that?

Menchey: [Laughs] My good friend will be organizing that. I did a podcast with him recently and he assures me that if Summer NAMM is on, the Hard Rock Café gig will be on.

The Retailer: As NAMM vice chairman, has it been difficult to learn from Chris Martin as you cannot have in-person events?

Menchey: Actually, as vice chair, there is limited travel. Normally, the chairman travels internationally with [NAMM president and CEO] Joe [Lamond] and develops those relationships. Sadly, Chris [Martin] did not get to do nearly as much of that. Chris has been a real trooper through this whole last 12 months. Everything we could do, we did. What we have done is, ex comm has met on a weekly basis. When you see them weekly on a Zoom call, the bonding increases. We really got to enjoy getting to know everyone better.

The Retailer: When you come in as NAMM chairman, you will find a bifurcated market with some areas doing very well like guitars, keyboards and at-home recording equipment. However, band and orchestra, rentals, and anything involving live music is another story. Is that a big battle you will have to face as NAMM chairman and as an MI retailer?

Menchey: Let’s get through the bad news first. The school music component of our business, as well as the school music component of almost every retailer I know, has been challenged. We have stores in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The school districts in both of those states had different philosophies about how they should teach. In most of our Maryland markets, the students learned virtually this year. That obviously had an impact on new student enrollments. Pennsylvania was a mixed bag. We actually had some districts that did more (continued on page 53)