WMC 2010: Celebrating 25 Years of babes and beats

This year, WMC turns twenty-five years. That’s a big one considering the first Conference back in ’86 drew fewer than one hundred attendees. That obviously didn’t last long. For this WMC Countdown Edition feature, I have dug up a couple of articles that give some historical perspective on this event, from its days when it was known as a “close-knit retreat” for diva house heads to the transformation of this low key event to a 40,000 + attendee South Beach rave.

Photo courtesy of the New York Times

1. Mix and Remix – an interesting and comprehensive article about WMC written in 2001 that focuses on what Miami-based indie DJs really think of the infiltration of music biz schmoozers on their turf. This is a down-to-earth article and entertaining read if you want to get a sense of what Miami was like back in the day.

2. Pop Goes the Winter Music Conference – Nothing lasts forever...so does that mean the dance music industry dwindling? According to this article written back in 2007 WMC reached a low point, giving other spring fest competitors like SXSW an ego boost.

3. Danny Tenaglia: The WMC Dance – It's not easy being famous. Even if you’ve only been to WMC once and never seen Tenaglia play, it’s a known fact that he’s a Miami legend as much as he is a dance floor hero in NY. In this exclusive interview with Resident Advisor, Tenaglia chats about his favorite WMC memories and keeping afloat the pressure of expectations.