NAMM 2026: Last year proved that the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California had fully restored itself as the global music technology trade show, following a bumpy few years which left its future hanging in the balance.
In 2025, we were overawed by a reinvigorated Winter NAMM, and a more full-blooded comeback after its tentative return to its traditional January slot in 2024.
It had been a long and precarious road since the whole industry pivoted away from in-person events following the COVID pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
In 2026, NAMM is well and truly back in business, with many of the industry’s major players once again jetting themselves down to the sunny climes of Anaheim, California to meet with their industry fellows (and a deluge of influencers) to unveil the products on which they’ll hinge their year. The show begins next Tuesday January 20th and will run until Saturday January 24th.
As ever, we’ll be enduring that 11+ hour flight and eagerly covering the show on the ground. We’ll be reporting back right here to this rolling live blog with all the brand new gear, jaw-dropping reveals, head-scratching things (NAMM’s embrace of the weird is a genuine highlight) and the overall vibe of this music-maker’s paradise.
Aside from our coverage here, we’ll also be posting regular updates on our MusicRadar and MusicRadar Tech YouTube channels, and over at our Instagram (@musicradartech) so make sure you’re subscribed/following and prepare to vicariously submerge yourself in the technicolour overwhelmingness of NAMM 2026!
NAMM 2026: Early News, Rumours and Live Updates
Here's some early speculation to ponder what we can expect next week from some of the bigger players…
Roland: We know for sure that Roland will be foregrounding beats, with showcases of its recently-released TR-1000 Rhythm Creator as well as the V Drums 3 & 5 series. There’s also the MIDI-enabled Aerophone Brisa Digital Wind Instrument which we’re curious to see and hear in action - hopefully played by an actual flautist.
We’re also hearing rumours of a few new offerings in the software domain which have piqued our curiosity. So, we'll certainly be checking in with Roland as a day one priority.
Korg: Everyone is expecting something of note from Korg this year, considering it typically uses NAMM as the annual launch point for the year's new flagships. Last year, for example, we were highly impressed with the Kronos 3 workstation. Perhaps a new revitalized Electribe will square-off against Roland’s TR-1000?
We must stress we're in pure speculation mode here and don’t have any firm updates as yet from the company, but we’re standing by the proverbial phone…
As we noted last year, Korg is also a dab hand at throwing in a plethora of unannounced Easter eggs onto its booth. Back in 2020 we caught our first glimpse of a prototype Opsix when it appeared unannounced on Korg’s NAMM stand.
Akai: A few unconfirmed leaks suggest that Akai has been working on something that will mark a major advance of its industry-leading MPC platform. Perhaps a substantial all-in-one software/hardware workstation that expands on the brilliance of the MPC Live III. That's certainly heavily rumoured. As with everything, we’ll keep you posted with confirmed info when we have it.
Native Instruments: Speaking of all-in-one music production hubs, it’s rumoured strongly that NI might… might… be re-introducing a 2026-ed-up version of Maschine, six years since the Maschine+. This would see it go head-to-head with Akai’s hypothetical offering.
Otherwise, we can surely expect a series of new releases in the Kontakt instrument realm, plus updates to the expanded family of companies under NI’s belt (iZotope, Plugin Alliance and Brainworx)
Behringer: Well, like everybody else, we’re entirely in the dark on this one. After returning to the show for the first time in a decade last year, Uli Behringer’s company are clearly keen to push the envelope when it comes to spotlight-stealing.
Last year Behringer captivated us with the 16-voice Prophet-5-inspired, Pro-16 (which now seems to have been strangely discontinued…), the LM Drum and the Yamaha DX-1-inspired BX1. So, we can expect displays of similar allure this year for sure. The question is, when (if ever) will whatever instruments Behringer brings this year be available for purchase?
Besides the major players, speculation is also rife that Arturia will be bringing out a new software-integrated hardware synth offering, Ashun Sound Machines (the maker of the extraordinary HydraSynth) is also heavily rumoured to be dropping its successor. Or perhaps that’s just wishful speculation…
Anyway, this is just our initial chin-rubbing to get the wheels turning.
We’ll be back every day over the next week with further updates, theories and NAMM-related news drops until the show itself kicks off.
We've just published a lengthy interview with NAMM's President and CEO, John Mlynczak.
With vast expertise across the music education domain, as well as a stint driving learning at PreSonus Audio, Mlynczak’s appointment in early 2023 marked a real statement of intent. At that time, the future of NAMM was looking somewhat bleaker following the industry’s painful readjustments post-COVID.
With John at the helm, NAMM’s year-round educational offerings - and people-first attitude - have been key factors in its annual winter show regaining both its attendance and its importance to the wider industry. As John explains, this year’s show is already well on course to exceed previous records across a range of metrics.
We caught up with John to learn about his experience of leading NAMM so far, and his view on some of the key industry concerns that will undoubtedly be on everybody’s lips at the Anaheim Convention Center this year…
Read our interview here
In an interesting turn of developments ahead of the NAMM Show, we've learned that PreSonus's respected Studio One DAW is being renamed and re-angled, bringing it under an overarching Fender Studio brandname.
Fender's new idea for a "connected music ecosystem" comprises both software and hardware, with the brand launching several new products and bringing a number of existing PreSonus products under the Fender Studio name.
But the big headline is that Fender is rebranding PreSonus Studio One Pro as Fender Studio Pro 8 and relaunching the DAW with new native amp and effects plugins, a revamped interface and much more.
Read more about the rebrand to Fender Studio Pro 8 in our full report
