The National Association of Music Merchants will offer 74 first-time exhibitors to its annual Summer NAMM musical instrument and products trade show, to run July 12-14 at the Nashville Convention Center.

The new-to-Summer NAMM companies, many of which represent multiple brands, will comprise 20 percent of the total number of exhibitors. 

Twenty of the 74 exhibitors represent strings — including acoustic and electric guitars, basses and violins — and the accessories that go with them. This follows an uptick in 2011, when single year sales of fretted instruments and related products advanced 8.2 percent to $1.54 billion in retail.

NAMM officials say 149 companies are new or returning to Summer NAMM after a brief absence. In all, more than 10,000 music industry professionals from some 20 countries plan to attend the convention.