Being the devout dance music lover that I am, I jumped at the chance to go down to Miami this past March. What’s all the fuss about? Oh, only thousands of dance music fans making the trek across the globe to all meet in one place, Winter Music Conference 2008.

Although I’ve made the trek to Miami numerous times during WMC for the parties and the Ultra Music Festival, I’ve never attended the actual conference. When presented with this opportunity, I have to admit I was excited to see what actually goes on behind those WMC BADGE ONLY conferences and parties.

When arriving at the hotel, the lobby had a great vibe to it. I must say I was disappointed in our room though. It had no balcony, and no way to even open a window in the room. Our hotel phone was messed up so we could only call the front desk about 1 in every 10 times we tried. The front desk was pretty rude and unaccommodating and the room overall was dirty, old and our closet door was broken. The opinion of those of us traveling in our party was that we paid for a 4 star hotel and stayed in a 2 star, at best. We were all a bit surprised by the location of the hotel as well, which was a good 15 minutes from all the South Beach action.

That aside, the actual conference was great. There was a small army of prestigious producers, record label execs, promoters, DJ’s, and gear techs sharing their vast secret industry information. For the most part, there were no questions left unanswered and there seemed to be no question that was too invasive for the select VIP panelist’s. The only complaint I have is that so much was going on all at once that it was impossible to go to all of the panels. Almost all of the events and panels are simultaneous, so you just have to pick which ones you’d like to attend and forget about the other panels. I guess that would be a reason to go back next year, to listen to the other half of the panels we had to ditch.

The demo listening workshops were interesting, as song after song were played and dismissed by the big label A&R reps. Watching it was similar to American Idol but for dance music. The judges said they were trying to be nice by not saying much at all, but I think it may have helped the producers of these songs if they just would’ve told them point blank information. Mostly the judges would just laugh and say “I don’t like it”. As a listener in those sessions you can’t help but want to know WHY they don’t like the songs. But I guess their mothers told them the ancient rule about if you don’t have something nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.

The ‘Bring on the Beats’ party was the usual break beat party. The promoter was exceptionally nice, as was Baby Anne, who rocked it out. Am I the only one visiting the breaks scene who notices certain “leaders” with shockingly snobby egos? Some of you really do think you are god’s gift to DJ land. You know, when a fan meets someone they’ve always looked up to, and they are very rude and full of themselves, it is disappointing. That star loses a fan, and another and another and fan after paying fan. Then that star will start to wonder why their shows are not selling out anymore, and why their album sales are down… Maybe it all starts with basic manners, like being polite. Careful out there! I just might spill some real gossip! Oh, and there is a certain female vocalist out there with horrible attitude problem that thinks she is the hottest thing around. The funny thing is everyone is whispering about how stuck up she is behind her back. She really should watch how she acts because everyone can see right through fakeness!

Next we headed to the Annual International Dance Music Awards. I thought it was well thought out with some surprise celebrity presenters and hosts. As a big fan of PVD, I noticed that Paul Van Dyk took home a numerous amount of awards, and he was one of the only truly big artists in attendance. As a side note, Paul Van Dyk, who is one of the biggest dance producers and DJ’s in the world was extremely nice and down to earth. See where being nice can get you?

The OM party at Y Ultra Lounge, was easily one of the hottest parties of the week.

The Ultra Music Festival was a success this year, as always. Highlights were BT doing a 10- year reminiscent live set that was badass, and came complete with his singers, drummer, and all 10 years of funk and beauty mixed into one journey. It was great! Rabbit in the Moon never disappoints with their crazy live show such as gothic circus people on stilts covered in baby powder, dancers dressed in police riot gear fighting their own images in giant funhouse mirrors, a tribal fire dancer, and creepy clowns. And of course, the normal Bunny antics such as his glow stick suit, the mirror suit, and his ever climatic pulling a crowd member onstage to put a metal grinder on their face and scare the shit out of them… Good stuff, a bit dark, would love to hear a new female vocal collab from RITM. Next major highlight was the one and only Tiesto, my favorite. There is no crowd out there like a Tiesto crowd, if you know what I mean. There is a real fan in a Tiesto fan, which is why his shows are always the best around. At his main stage headlining appearance there was the most electric vibe in the air hovering over faces in every direction as far as you could see. There were tens of thousands of people jumping up and down screaming like one giant unit, one giant heart pumping, in love with his music. Tiesto is still the dance king of the world, and everyone who was at Ultra knows why. Other highlights include Underworld who was just as good as they were at their last performance at Ultra years ago. Let’s talk about Armin Van Buren, and Ferry Corsten. These guys are the new breed, the new leaders of the pack. They are coming in, and slowly but surely taking over. They are not just good because the flyers say they are the headliners. They are good because the music they play is magical. So take notice to the newest royalty taking over the high court of dance music. And be excited for the fresh new sound!

Overall, I’d like to say that our week in Miami was amazing. It was very eye opening, educational, exciting, reminiscent, and busy! There was way too much to do to keep up with! I’d like to make a final point about the overall experience. When I used to go down to Miami for WMC week years ago there was a different vibe. Some old schoolers I spoke with miss that vibe. That vibe did include a tremendous amount of intoxicated people partying like there’s no tomorrow. I’m happy to report a more mature vibe in Miami this year. It seemed cleaner, not so many people on drugs everywhere. There was more of a business feel, and a having fun listening to the music vibe that I’m proud of. Our scene has come under so much scrutiny in the past few years. But it’s not all about drugs and ecstasy like it maybe once was. In the crowd of thousands, it was hard to see anyone noticeably on drugs. Now, as it was shown to me at Winter Music Conference and Ultra 2008, I truly believe it’s about the music, and the people. That’s what it was always supposed to be about. -By Heather Collins. Keep it alive!