Winter Music Conference Overview:
- What: Winter Music Conference, a dance music focused industry trade show. Also home to the International Dance Music Awards (IDMA).
- Where: Miami, Florida
- Attendees: Musicians, DJs, producers and all industry sectors, with a heavy focus on dance and electronic music. The Winter Music Conference typical draws a large number of music industry reps from outside of the US. In 2009, total attendance for the event was 70,000.
- Cost: Prices vary from year to year, and registration becomes increasingly more expensive the closer to the date of the event. In 2010, the price peaked at $475 for walk-up registration.
What to Expect at the Winter Music Conference:
Winter Music Conference is a mix of standard trade show fare - panel discussions and production exhibitions - and events geared towards the dance/electronic field, such as remixing workshops, DJ spinoffs and the VJ Challenge. There are WMC promoted shows at venues around Miami during the festival, as well as record show and demo listening workshop. A delegate's pass gets you admission to all of these events as well as the IDMAs.
International Dance Music Awards:
The WMC hosted International Dance Music Awards in 1985. It was the first award show dedicated to dance music and remains the largest dance music award event.
Should You Go To The Winter Music Conference?:
The Winter Music Conference is so well attended for one reason - it is informative AND fun. Although it might not be the right event for every genre of music, if you are into dance, electronica or even some brands of hip hop, this is the place to be. The price is a bargain for everything you get with a delegate pass, and the dance music industry is out in force. You'll get great networking opportunities plus a chance to discuss music industry issues as they apply to your genre of music. Even novice musicians can learn a lot at this event, so even if you don't particularly have anything to promote, if you can afford the ticket, WMC offers a great learning opportunity.
Of course, you shouldn't sacrifice important things like playing live and promotion simply to attend WMC, and even if you don't have a particular project to promote at WMC, you should be prepared to take the most of the event if you decide to go. These articles will help:
