ATMI was formed in 1975 as the National Consortium for Computer-Based Music Instruction (NCCBMI) by 11 universities on the camps of the University of Delaware. The consortium was a special interest group of the Association for the Development of Computer-Based Instructional Systems (ADCIS). It published its own yearbook, a special issue of the Journal of Computer-Based Instruction (JCBI) and a newsletter. NCCBMI’s annual conference was held in conjunction with the ADCIS conference.

In 1979, an affiliation was formed between NCCBMI and the College Music Society (CMS).

Since 1992, ATMI has been an independent professional organization. ATMI currently has about 80 members from the United States and a smaller number from various other countries.

Since 1994, ATMI has held an annual conference which serves as a forum for scholarly presentations, software and hardware demonstrations, panels, and discussion groups. The annual meetings are held in conjunction with the CMS National conference. Conferences feature presentations and performances by academic and industry music technology experts. For additional details on past conferences (including programs and abstracts), please visit our conference page.

In 2019, ATMI voted to start its own journal, the Journal of the Association for Technology in Music Instruction. For additional information on JATMI, please visit the Journal’s home page.