After first being appointed to the AMA in 1990, Rob Walker will hand over the position of Executive Officer at the end of 2021. Rob has been in his current role since returning to the AMA in 2013 and is now stepping back from this responsibility.

In this time, Rob helped the executive committee resurrect AMAC (Australian Music Association Convention) and the guitar show concept (Melbourne Guitar Show), and develop new ones, as well as develop strong partnerships with organisations such as NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) and the NAMM Foundation.

Rob will participate in the transition process and continue to advise the AMA on future events and remains part of the family. He is deputy-chair of the board and has been integral to the launch of the industry Charity, Music for All.

Rob has invested over 30 years’ service to the music products industry. This includes being past president of the AMA, three years working for the NAMM organisation in North America as well as seven years in retail. He has facilitated, project-managed or convened 30+ events for the industry in that time and represented the AMA to various levels of government and to organisations on many fronts.

The AMA would like to publicly thank Rob for his dedication to the AMA and the music industry more broadly both commercially and as a musician.

Rob said, “It has been my privilege to act as Executive Officer of the AMA. We have weathered the storm of the last couple of years, a bit battered, but still floating and ready for the next stanza – we’ve got some young, enthusiastic and influential members on the board who represent the future of the industry, and this is good to see. I’d like to thank all the members for their support over the years and I appreciate the many friendships I have made and great people I’ve dealt with over the years.”

I would personally like to thank Rob for his extraordinary investment of time and energy into the AMA, shouldering the bulk of the workload, managing relationships, and providing stability for the association.

The AMA is now entering a new chapter.

Michael Shade

President