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NAB Means New Audio Business

I've believed for many years that it's smart for audio professionals to attend the annual National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention—because audio, video, and broadcasting are intertwined, and each industry feeds the others. With all of the major audio, video, radio, and TV broadcast and ancillary industries represented in one location, NAB is many times larger than AES and usually held in Las Vegas at two convention locations. Browsing the show to see what makes other industries flourish is a valuable experience that might alert you to new business opportunities for your facility. For example, the satellite dish industry is represented there with an outdoor football-field-sized “farm” with dishes of all sizes, both stationary and portable. This offers you the opportunity to find out the latest product/format trends and costs for uplinking and downlinking sound and picture, which is becoming more and more a part of the growth of our global audio industry.

In my opinion, it is mandatory for any professional audio recording facility to be aligned with the visual industries (film and television). I believe that it is the future of our craft and that the NAB convention is the ideal location to acquire a better understanding of the interaction between them. If you are currently in only nonpicture music recording, the question you should take to the convention is: “How do I get into the audio postproduction business?”

You can educate yourself at NAB about how to maximize your bookings by providing information to the video/broadcast community about the audio services you perform best. Mingle and find out what the other guys think about what you do and how you might fit in with what they need. Sometimes, offering your available visual audio services to an existing postproduction facility to use at reduced rates for their overflow purposes can get you a bigger toehold in a new services area you are trying to enter. The many professional audio manufacturers represented at the convention are a good source for this information since they all have their postproduction hats on. Those whom you know can update you about the latest convention product excitement and provide advice and introductions to potential visual audio partners.

Exploration at NAB can provide you with new information about products and services you might consider offering and give you a chance to meet with and question others who are already providing/using those audio services. Equally important, you can find out about who the big clients are, which trade magazines you should be reading, the prices clients are willing to pay for these services, and, hopefully, why they currently use certain facilities in your geographical location.

Another excellent reason for attending NAB is to learn about the latest broadcast standards and trends that will affect your business, since professional audio often has both television and film applications. Attending seminars to learn about domestic and international client demands, conformance to various formats, and preparation of audio for postproduction services (particularly for digital television and DVD applications) could make the difference in the speed of your growth within this giant global industry.

What do some of the leaders of the audio recording services business think about NAB? To find that answer I went to two of the shrewdest business minds in our industry. Howard Schwartz, whom I mentioned previously, is the owner of Howard Schwartz Recording, one of the largest and most successful postproduction complexes in New York City. Rick Stevens is the Los Angeles-based CEO of Record Plant Recording Studios, and a partner in two other visual postproduction complexes. Over the past few years, Howie and Rick have very successfully expanded their business activities beyond music to offer a variety of video, television, and film postproduction audio services. As a result, they have become major players in the new applications for these emerging markets in their geographical areas.

Howard Schwartz's primary reasons for attending NAB are: First, it gives him access to the companies and personnel who are developing the technology he needs to know about to keep his business on the cutting edge. Next, it gives him a chance to speak with the people who have already purchased and are using the equipment he is considering—to determine what they like and don't like about the competing brands. Third, because Howie is an indefatigable negotiator, it lets him wheel and deal with the various equipment suppliers and find the best price he can get at convention time. Last, he gets to hang out and gossip with his friends from around the industry, many of whom he sees only at trade shows. On the surface it seems like mere socializing, but Howie is probing for any and all information and relationships that will help maintain his position as one of the major East Coast players. Very smart man.

Rick Stevens has much the same interest in NAB, but also likes to meet with the senior hardware and software supplier executives, all of whom are present at the show, to probe into their new product developments and hear why they think our industries are moving in particular directions. Market research is the textbook name for these activities, and he is a real pro at probing. He also enjoys hanging out with his peers (and his competition) to discuss the major issues of the day while he looks for the best products for particular tasks and learns what new audio formats and services are beginning to show prominence.

The showtime meeting of audio pros with broadcasters is important for both groups because it solidifies trends, opens up new opportunities, and renews friendships. You never know when a new client is going to appear or what new business opportunity might fit neatly into the package of services that you offer. Because most of us live in the isolated vacuum of our own regional business, NAB is a great opportunity to meet and greet, press the flesh, and come away invigorated by how much you can learn about the future of pro audio and the best ways to maximize profits at your studio.