Guitar Center Business Solutions Launches Resonate Expo: What the Pro Audio and AV Convergence Event Signals for Integrators
On April 9, 2026, Guitar Center Business Solutions hosted Resonate -- its first integrated technology expo -- at Nashville's Music City Center. The event brought together leading AV and pro audio brands, systems integrators, and creative professionals to explore the tools shaping modern audio-visual workflows. With exhibitors including Shure, QSC, and Logitech, and programming that spanned Grammy-winning professionals and music education advocates, Resonate was something the industry has not quite seen before: a formal convergence event where pro audio and professional AV share the same floor.
Why This Event Is Different
The AV integration industry and the pro audio world have long operated in parallel universes. AV integrators design and install systems for corporate, education, and worship environments. Pro audio professionals mix live concerts, record albums, and run touring sound. The tools overlap -- Dante, Shure, QSC all serve both markets -- but the communities have historically not mixed much.
Resonate is a deliberate attempt to change that. Guitar Center Business Solutions is positioning itself as a bridge between these two worlds. The expo featured keynote sessions, live performances, panels with Grammy-winning professionals, and a presentation from the Guitar Center Music Foundation on music education. Shure's Jeff McDonald called the event fresh and well-executed, while QSC's Travis deLinde highlighted the quality of in-person connections it facilitated.
The AI Angle: Where Pro Audio and AV Intelligence Intersect
The convergence of pro audio and professional AV is being accelerated by AI. AI-driven mixing assistants, automatic gain staging, intelligent feedback suppression, and machine learning-based room tuning are all active development areas for brands like Shure, QSC, and Yamaha -- brands that serve both markets simultaneously. As those AI capabilities mature, the distinction between a live sound console and a DSP platform for installed AV becomes increasingly academic.
For AV integrators, this convergence creates new opportunities in markets they may not have traditionally served: houses of worship with broadcast-quality production needs, performing arts venues, corporate event spaces, and music education facilities. These environments require the kind of audio expertise that live sound professionals have always had -- but they also need the systems integration, control programming, and managed service capabilities that AV integrators bring.
What Resonate Signals About the Market
The fact that Guitar Center Business Solutions saw fit to create this event at all is a market signal. It suggests that the commercial AV and pro audio sectors are increasingly pursuing the same clients, selling adjacent technology, and finding that their respective expertise is complementary rather than competitive. Expect more events, partnerships, and product launches at the intersection of these two markets as the decade progresses.
What This Means for AV Integrators
Integrators who develop fluency in pro audio workflows -- DSP programming for live sound, Dante routing for performance venues, AI-assisted mixing platform commissioning -- will be positioned to pursue a broader range of revenue opportunities that most traditional AV firms currently leave on the table. The Resonate Expo is an invitation to start building those bridges now, before competitors realize the opportunity.