After skipping last years Winter Music Conference (WMC) in Miami, I decided to give it a "go" this year (to be honest, at the end I did regret my decision to skip last year - simply for the reason to have missed the chance to meet lots of my friends, enjoy the great location and have lots of fun). Some of you did already ask me about my feelings of this years WMC - and my initial response was something around the lines "...I did never really get into it, the conference still faces the same problems I complained about in the past years...". But now that the conference is over for a few days, and I had time to think about it in more details - did I change my mind?

Before I go into answering above question, let me point out some of the aspects I consider relevant to be able to make up my mind about this years conference.

In general I was under the impression that many parties had a hard time to draw the peoples attention. On many parties I checked out, the guest list/RSVP list was not checked, or they let the people in without paying - and still many of these party's where not that crowded. Then there was the usual drama of last minute cancellations or moves to other locations, and the sound systems in most locations - to say the least - were disappointing. And I even missed on some parties as they were announced last minute... And don't even bother to get up early for the daytime party's, nothing is really happening before 4pm - unless you want to go to the beach, do some sports or go shopping, of course.

Like in the past, the live performances this year are among my highlights, and I had the chance to check out some young, fresh DJ talents from around the globe. But then again, you could end up listening to the same DJ at various party's as the trend of DJ's playing multiple times day and night goes on and on... even with those that told me two years ago they would stop doing it.

I'm sure you are all aware of the ever growing South African house music scene, and this culminated in their presence at this years WMC. Some parties had a clear focus on South Africa, its music and DJ', not to forget to mention that Black Coffee's "Superman" could be heard almost everywhere. Personally I'm surprised it took until 2010 for the South African to have a global breakthrough given that labels such as MAW did pick up on them a few years back already...

Out of interest, I've been reading my recaps of the previous WMC's I did attend. I think lots of things I said are still true, and I still believe there need to be drastic changes to make the WMC what is was when it all started 25 years ago (this reminds me to point out that the conference celebrated its 25th birthday this year). As stated in the past, the WMC should go back to their origin/roots with everything taking place at one central place. From my point of view, the split of the actual conference from most of the parties and places where lots of the business is made is definitely one of the major problems. Further, for many the actual conference is not even the reason to come down to Miami (count me in)...

But then we must also accept some things will never be the same again - for example, there will be no more a "tune of the conference" as the digitalization of the music industry completely changed the way of production, marketing, promotion and even consumption (don't we carry a portable player around with us all the time - remember that almost every phone nowadays has a multimedia payer built in). Those glory days where Tony Humphries or Louie Vega would drop a promo and everybody would be trying to get their hands on a copy are over as there is no more such thing as an "exclusive promo"... In other words, the industry doesn't really need Miami any more to break records or artists.

To summarize my feelings about this years WMC in a few words, and to get back on the introductory question: despite my disappointment on certain aspects and myself never really getting into it, I did enjoy my time in Miami, and in particular I wouldn't want to miss the chance to meet all my friends and all the fun we had together. Maybe I was just lacking the enthusiasm I had in the past...

So will I be back for WMC 2011? Only time will tell...

Feel free to contact me by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to share your feelings.

Mike Fossati
Chief Editor