Miami toes the party line

March 22 2008

Each spring a corner of Florida becomes the most important place in the dance music industry, as the Miami Winter Music Conference rolls into town.

Imagine the Cannes Film Festival crossed with an Ibiza closing party and it is easy to see why the issue of who gets to go and who does not can cause more record label office rows than any snippy email or inappropriate attachment.

Sure, it has got the execs, the talking shop and the dull discussion panels held in airless function rooms. It’s business. But it is business conducted in a sub-tropical paradise where models are 10 a penny, where the parties rock on 24/7 and five days of hardcore partying can be put on expenses.

Running from March 25 to 29, and with at least 200 parties in multiple venues, there is no singular WMC experience. Now in its 23rd year, and with the date recently moved to coincide with the beer-bong excess that is the US students’ Spring Break, the question is whether WMC still sets the dancefloor agenda for the coming year, and whether its evolution mirrors the changing face of dance music.

For passionate dance music fans, such as Mixmag’s assistant editor Ralph Moore, Miami is still a must-do.

“It’s where you get five days of proper dance music,” he says. “You won’t hear, say, Basshunter in Miami. That’s what I call ‘ringtone dance music’. Miami is about great tunes for grown-ups.”

Moore concedes, however, that the conference has seen a sea change in recent years, with the dance industry’s first big jamboree in the sun of the year no longer being the justifiable expense it once was.

“In the past, people saw Miami like Ibiza – a place where records were broken,” he says. “I remember being there in 2001 when the Ringbang remix of Electric Avenue was played and every industry type was scrambling towards the decks saying ‘what is that?’. Now, with the internet, there’s far fewer tunes being played first in Miami.”

The emphasis, says Azuli managing director Dave Piccioni, has shifted from the music to the parties. “It’s still relevant,” he says, “but less so for record labels. The shift is from recorded music to events, and it’s now a place to increase your presence as a party promoter.”

Positiva director Jason Ellis concurs: “It is all about the parties now. That said, there is no more concentrated collection of dance music than WMC. It’s the Ibiza season in five days.”

The parties are a great opportunity for record labels to showcase their brand to the industry and, crucially, to the punters.

Defected, for example, which will release Defected In The House Miami 2008 to coincide with the event, has a huge party planned at SET club in Miami on Monday, March 28. This, the label’s managing director Simon Dunmore believes, is what Miami is all about these days.

“I’m not running around looking for the Miami tune,” he says. “I’m helping to put on a great party and meeting a few licensees in the daytime. It’s still a valid event, it’s just different.”

Wall of Sound managing director Mark Jones agrees that WMC is still the place to be, despite the rumblings of doubters who question its importance in the digital age.

“The key representatives from US press and radio are there so it’s worth making the effort,” he says. “However, we’re not a one-off singles label so I’m not really looking for that big Miami tune. Serious album-producing artists is what Wall Of Sound is all about.”

For Ministry of Sound general managert Iain Hagger, however, Miami is off his travel schedule.

“It’s a non-commercial event,” he explains. “It’s a showcase for underground music and DJs, not for commercial dance music. As a commercially-focused label, it’s not essential for us.”

But for Hed Kandi, now part of the MoS stable, Miami is still a key part of its promotional plans.

“We put on more parties in Miami than anywhere else in the States,” says Hed Kandi general manager Dan Baxter. “So it’s important for us to be there.

“Miami is a good fit for us. There’s a big party scene and it’s quite upmarket too, which complements the brand. Rather than going to mega clubs, we can host parties in cool DJ bars, which works well with the imagery of Hed Kandi.

“We’re fortunate in that we get invited over to run parties during the conference. So it’s a marketing exercise that, crucially, doesn’t cost us a fortune.”

So aside from the sun and endless partying, are there genuinely good reasons to go to WMC? Defected’s Simon Dunmore says yes.

“My advice for WMC novices is to go to the daytime parties,” he says. “It’s easier to network and you can hear the tunes more clearly. Also on the plus side, you get a great snapshot of the summer, DJ-wise. On the downside, the roads are gridlocked, the doormen are difficult and everyone’s a VIP!”

And while Hagger may not be attending, his head of A&R Dave Dollimore plans to put in an appearance.

“There are fewer key records at WMC,” concedes Dollimore. “But it’s still a great place to build relationships with producers, licensees and DJs. People are more relaxed and initial deals do get agreed.”

The opportunity to put on a great party, one that will stay in the memory long after the tan has faded, is also an effective way to keep your brand in the industry’s collective conscious.

Mark Jones is someone who is renowned for doing just that. “We usually have some sort of Miami presence,” he says, “although we took a break after the last one which we held at Versace’s mansion, overlooking South Beach. I don’t think the mansion’s staff were too impressed when I turned up dressed as ‘Wrongatella’ Versace, and the police weren’t too keen on the noise levels.

“How do we top that? Well, this year we’ve been invited to host a party on Thursday night at the rooftop pool of the newly-opened Gansevoort hotel on South Beach. It’s a private Wall of Sound do in a beautiful hotel with Lottie, Junior Sanchez and Ocelot, a new US signing for us, all playing.”

WMC also acts as a litmus test for the dance music industry as a whole. On the face of it, given the popularity of the parties and the record number of punters planning to attend, dance would seem to be a very healthy business. But is that really the case?

“Let’s face it,” says Dunmore. “The record business is screwed, but the music business is healthy.

“We operate on the 360° model – looking after publishing, events and DJ management, and that works for us. We employ 20% more staff than last year.

“We’ve had to become more like a brand. Defected stands for something, and people trust us for quality. Annoyingly, this means that I sometimes have to pass on what I know will be a big record because it’s just not us.”

Positiva’s Jason Ellis agrees that carving a niche out for yourself, particularly if you are a DJ, and turning yourself into a brand, is key to success in the shifting world of dance music.

“Dance music is still pretty strong,” he says. “Now, though, it’s all about DJs making their own records, starting a small label and then making it big on the download sites. Look at Deadmau5 [a celebrated prog/minimal producer from Toronto] – he’s the king of Beatport at the moment, and that gets him plenty of DJing gigs.”

The self-styled Swedish House Mafia of Prydz, Ingrosso, Axwell and Angelo are a similar example, he says, of DJs becoming a recognisable brand.

Ellis’s priorities for Miami include remixes of Fragma’s Toca’s Miracle and Tiesto favourite The Storm by Jerry Ropero. And, although it may not be flavour of the month with the dance cognosceti, he predicts an increase in the sort of tunes Ralph Moore from Mixmag dubbed “ringtone house”.

“The commercial end of house will definitely get bigger – Basshunter and Cascada are what a lot of young clubbers are after.”

It is a sentiment shared by Matt Jagger, former managing director of Ministry of Sound and now managing director of Naked Ventures, a music and branding agency and also co-owner of MNB Records, which released T2’s Top 10 hit Heartbroken last year, in conjunction with All Around The World.

“There are only two ways of making money in dance music at the moment,” he says. “Either be a DJ and producer who owns a record label. Be your own brand, in other words. That way the music you make helps get you gigs and work. Or hook up with Ministry or All Around The World who’ll get your music out there.

“So few people can make a good crossover dance record. Cascada sells records, H Two O sells records, Delinquent sells records. There are literally two numbers to call if you want this commercial success.”

Downloading, says Jagger, has hit the dance industry harder than most. “The live dance music industry and clubbing is still healthy. People will always want to consume music together but electronic music has a disposability that’s far more prevalent than with other genres. It also has a tech-savvy audience who are comfortable with downloading.”

And he has a radical forecast for the way the wind is blowing. “I predict that dance music won’t even be sold in the future. That is the future of dance music.”

On the flipside, a company that’s enjoying a purple patch at the moment is Ministry of Sound and Hagger, although he may not be attending WMC, is upbeat about the industry in general. “Dance music is very healthy,” he says. “Look at the Ministry club in London on a Saturday night. It’s at capacity every week and now we’ve got The Gallery moving from Turnmills to Ministry every Friday we’ll have the biggest weekends in London.”

At the time of writing, MoS had two commercial dance records in the top five, plus a new Utah Saints release A-listed on Radio One and Kiss and also boasting 4,000 views on YouTube two weeks before its release date. Add in the fact that its Basshunter track stayed at number one for five weeks last year and it is clear that Ministry is on a roll.

“Commercial success these days is about the package,” says Hagger. “It’s no longer enough to have a great tune and hope it sells. Your radio plot has to be there and you need a fantastic video so you get the YouTube support. A few years ago, you could survive on Radio One alone. Not anymore.”

Ministry’s recent big wins with more commercial dance music has seen the company set up a new label, Hard2Beat, giving it a new format for the pop end of dance music.

Hagger says,“We had the Data label which has been around for a while and is good for the cool credible stuff, some of which crosses over to the mainstream, and obviously Hed Kandi for funky house. But what were we to do with records that were unashamedly commercial from the off? Hard2Beat was the answer, set up for tracks like Basshunter [300,000 sales to date] and H Two 0.

“I just want to sign good pop records from the commercial end of dance music. This area will get bigger, which can only be good for dance music as a whole,” says Hagger.

From DJs to record labels, dance music’s template is being stretched. Witness the success of All Around The World’s highly-successful Clubland albums, launched as a joint venture with UMTV. The album series, which sells in excess of 250,000 units per release, has just launched its own TV channel, Clubland TV, with the plan of further connecting it with its target market

DJs are also diversifying, with spinners such as Rob Da Bank expanding what was a low-key chill-out night in South London to encompass a record label, major festivals (Bestival, Camp Bestival) and a Radio One show.

“Rob stretched the template of Sunday Best,” says Moore. “He ran a small dance music club and now My Bloody Valentine are headlining Bestival. The best DJs in dance music connect with more than just dance music – Rob is a good example of that.”

Azuli’s Dave Piccioni agrees that more DJs will push themselves as brands in 2008, exploiting themselves through mediums such as ringtones and merchandise or doing one-man shows, like Mr Scruff or Tiesto.

“The big names already do this successfully. The key for DJs is getting a good manager because, let’s face it, lots of DJs aren’t switched on enough to exploit themselves properly!”

Musically, bassline looks set to continue as a successful new genre, following the success of T2’s Heartbroken last year.

Dave Dollimore, A&R director at Ministry of Sound, counsels caution in this area, though.

“We’ve helped commercialise what was a niche scene, which is a textbook Ministry approach. The trouble is, with the inevitable resurgence of Ayia Napa this year, we’re going to get a whole bunch of bassline records being pumped out that are dire.”

Dollimore also predicts a switch from minimal to more uplifting house on the nation’s dancefloors, ‘but with an electro edge’.

“Look out for Eric Prydz, Fedde Le Grande and Axwell this year,” he adds.

For Mark Jones at Wall of Sound, the trend towards electicism is one that excites.

“It’s interesting that fewer people are aspiring to be DJs these days. They now aspire to work with like-minded friends in bands.

“Even more interesting is that electronic music is at the heart of what they do. Like Klaxons, they’ve grown up with this music and, although they may be making something which doesn’t really sound like dance music, it still has a core of dance within it.

“This year will be our biggest yet, with new albums from Dangermouse, The Infadels, Mogwai, Royskopp, Tiga and a very special artist release in September that I can’t talk about just yet…”

And what of the future of Miami WMC? Does the increase in parties and decrease in industry business sound the death knell for this dance music institution?

Ben Turner, former editor of Muzik and founder, alongside Pete Tong, of a new dance music conference, the International Music Summit, believes that better business can be done elsewhere.

The inaugral IMS (www.internationalmusicsummit.com) will be held in Ibiza, from May 28 to May 30, at three locations across the island. With the backing of many of the major players in the industry, including Def Mix’s Judy Weinstein, Defected’s Simon Dunmore and a host of DJs and artist managers, it looks set to be a long-overdue move to do business in one of dance music’s spiritual homes.

Turner says, “With a limited number of delegate badges at just 300, the International Music Summit has been designed as the G8 of music conferences.”

Whether the temptations of the White Isle impact upon the amount of business done is yet to be seen, but one thing seems clear from all the protagonists heading to Miami, Ibiza or staying in the UK and continuing to create the music that they love. Dance music has evolved and, for some, the changes are proving profitable.