Middle East musical instrument & accessories market in a period of rapid expansion

Accordingly, there has been a large increase in the numbers of bars, restaurants and night clubs, many of which offer live entertainment, to cater for the increased number of tourists visiting the region. This in turn, means that there is an on-going growth in the number of artists performing throughout the region, with the demand for musical instruments and accessories growing at a rate that far exceeds the global norm – to illustrate the business potential, Dubai alone is already home to in excess of 7,000 musicians.

Another factor that also creates additional opportunity for companies involved in the musical instruments and accessories industry is the massive growth in the number of musical institutions across the region, where music education is compulsory for pupils up to the age of 14. Over 3,000 students take the Trinity College music examinations in the UAE alone every year. Clearly, this is generating both institutional and private individual sales of all types of instruments and accessories.

As the music industry throughout the region continues to expand and mature, stimulated by the growth in tourism, entertainment and leisure, the sector as a whole is enjoying a period of extreme buoyancy that will continue to grow for many years to come.

The Middle East music industry finally has a dedicated trade event that is dedicated to the musical instruments and accessories sector in the form of MUSAC, part of PALME - the Middle East’s premier professional sound, light, music, audio visual and systems integration exhibition - which is firmly established as a must attend event on the industry trade show calendar.

Supported by MI Pro, the official publication of MUSAC, the event has been designed as the first ever showcase to enable the region’s key buyers and decision makers to see, first hand, the latest products from the leading names in the music industry.

The soft launch of MUSAC in 2005 was supported by leading names such as Peavey, Korg, Fender, Roland and Yamaha - it delivered a dedicated, specialist and unique regional forum and featured a comprehensive offering of musical instruments and accessories; music distribution; music publishing; music production; music promotion; music sheets; computer software for music plus merchandising and retail support.

“MUSAC is the gateway to the lucrative Middle East market.” said Darren Brechin, Project Director, IIR Exhibitions. “We have developed a highly focused trade exhibition that firmly puts the spotlight on the regional music industry, giving both regional and global companies the ideal platform to reach the key buyers, including importers, dealers, distributors, retailers, educational institutions, bands, studios, government establishments, hotels, bars and restaurants”.

Enthusiastically received by the industry, MUSAC is set to further expand in 2006, when the show takes place alongside PALME at Dubai’s International Exhibition Centre from April 24-26.

“Musac at the PALME 2005 exhibition was, without doubt, highly successful for us - it gave us a unique opportunity to show our full range of products in a dedicated musical instrument showcase. The event has proven so effective that part our business strategy moving forwards is to participate on an annual basis.”said Ziad H. Al-Haj, Owner & G.M of ZAK Electronics based in the UAE.

His view was shared by Takashi Yoshida, Manager of Korg’s International Sales Department, from Tokyo, Japan, who said “This is a fantastic show - it’s a great way for us to meet people from all over the Middle East region who are directly involved in the industry”.

Tony Sawyer of VV & Sons, regional distributors of the Peavey brand of musical instruments, exhibited at MUSAC 2005 and was delighted with the response from visitors. “Peavey had never had the opportunity to expose its wide range of musical instruments in the Middle East before. People know the name, but most had only seen a small part of the range, which covers guitars, keyboards, drums, amps and cabs” he said. “MUSAC is the first event to focus on musical instruments in the region, and we saw it as a logical move to be involved right from the start”.

Organised by IIR Exhibitions, MUSAC will benefit not only from the established global success and credibility of PALME, but IIR’s experience in staging other highly successful music industry shows such as CALM (in Beijing, China) and WASBE (The World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles conference).