{"id":203260,"date":"2026-03-24T01:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T01:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/203260\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T01:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T01:25:10","slug":"schedule-speakers-and-pool-parties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/203260\/","title":{"rendered":"Schedule, Speakers, and Pool Parties"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/wmc_2019_panel.webp.jpeg\" class=\"article-thumbnail-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Richie Hawtin, Carl Cox, and others onstage during a panel at Winter Music Conference 2019\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWinter Music Conference returns March 24-26, 2026, at the Epic Hotel in Downtown Miami. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Winter Music Conference photo<\/p>\n<p>Back in Downtown Miami from March 24\u201326 at the Kimpton <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miaminewtimes.com\/music\/miami-music-week-2026-announces-new-official-hotel-40500495\/\" id=\"40500495\">EPIC Hotel<\/a>, Winter Music Conference (WMC) once again will serve as the daytime headquarters for Miami Music Week. Resembling the quimera, WMC is three different animals: a conference, a networking hub, and a pool-party zone.<\/p>\n<p>Each day will kick off at noon, with panels and workshops across two tracks: one geared toward the business side, the other toward creators trying to break through (or level up).<\/p>\n<p>WMC 2026 Schedule and Key Speakers to Know<\/p>\n<p>The biggest draw this year is Wednesday\u2019s keynote, where <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miaminewtimes.com\/music\/photos-from-ultra-music-festival-2024-day-three-in-miami-19371709\/\" id=\"40472526\">Armin van Buuren<\/a> will sit down with Apple Music\u2019s Stephen Campbell and Tim Sweeney to talk about DJ mixes, algorithms, and whether human curation still matters. That starts at 12 p.m., and expect a packed room.<\/p>\n<p>Later in the week, a few can\u2019t-miss panels:<\/p>\n<p>Sasha, Dubfire, Alison Wonderland, and Danny Daze will break down how DJs actually build a set (Thursday, 4 p.m.)<br \/>\nLaidback Luke and Joachim Garraud will get into immersive audio and the future of DJ performance (also Thursday, 4 p.m.)<br \/>\nSara Landry will join Beatport for a conversation on <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miaminewtimes.com\/music\/best-techno-clubs-in-miami-40498843\/\" id=\"40498843\">techno<\/a>\u2019s global rise<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, you\u2019ll find people from TikTok, Warner Music Group, and Discogs talking AI, fan data, and how artists are supposed to survive all of it.<\/p>\n<p>WMC 2026 Pool Parties and Miami Music Week Events<\/p>\n<p>Of course, this is Miami Music Week, so things don\u2019t stay \u201cconference\u201d for long, and pool parties are part of the curriculum.<\/p>\n<p>The Beatport Live pool parties run all three days on the EPIC rooftop, with Danny Tenaglia, DJ Sneak, Radio Slave, DJ Minx, and Skream rotating through. It\u2019s basically the same crowd you\u2019ll see on panels \u2014 just with drinks in hand and a view of Biscayne Bay.<\/p>\n<p>There are also daily demos (including spatial audio showcases at 2 p.m.) and mixers where artists, labels, and industry folks can awkwardly-but-productively network; let\u2019s admit it, not everyone was born for it. <\/p>\n<p>Winter Music Conference History and Its Connection to Ultra Music Festival<\/p>\n<p>WMC has been part of South Florida\u2019s dance music DNA for <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miaminewtimes.com\/music\/winter-music-conference-returns-at-eden-roc-miami-beach-21991627\/\">over three decades<\/a>. It started in Fort Lauderdale in 1986 before moving to Miami, where it helped turn the city into a global clubbing destination.<\/p>\n<p>By the late \u201990s, it was the place to be; the kind of week where one badge could get you into half the parties in town and where moments like <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miaminewtimes.com\/music\/video-daft-punk-miami-dj-set-at-winter-music-conference-1999-22684379\/\">Daft Punk\u2019s 1999<\/a> Cameo Theater set became legend.<\/p>\n<p>These days, it sits neatly inside the Ultra ecosystem. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miaminewtimes.com\/music\/ultra-music-festival-acquires-winter-music-conference-10192439\/\">Since Ultra acquired WMC in 2018<\/a>, the split has been clear: WMC handles the conversations during the week, and Ultra (plus everything orbiting it) takes over towards the end of the week.<\/p>\n<p>Call it the calm before the drop \u2014 or at least the part where you could be slightly productive. You can find the full program, speakers, and pool party info on the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/wintermusicconference.com\/\" id=\"https:\/\/wintermusicconference.com\/\">WMC official website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Winter Music Conference 2026. Tuesday, March 24, through Thursday, March 26, at Kimpton Epic Hotel, 270 Biscayne Blvd Way, Miami;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/wintermusicconference.com\/\"> wintermusicconference.com<\/a>. Tickets cost $295 via<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/feverup.com\/m\/500105\"> <\/a><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/feverup.com\/m\/500105\">feverup.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winter Music Conference returns March 24-26, 2026, at the Epic Hotel in Downtown Miami. Winter Music Conference photo&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2318,19943,123,125,87349,124],"class_list":["post-203260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-downtown","tag-edm","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-music-week","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}