Hello everyone, this is Angel Matos, one of the partners from Sleeping Giant Music. As you all may know or not know, I’ve been in South Florida all of my life. So this Behind The Agents Post will be over Winter Music Conference (WMC) / Miami Music Week (MMW). Is this the end of the WMC / MMW era in South Beach / Miami Beach?
Back in the day WMC used to take place throughout South Beach. From hotel lobbies, to hotel poolside events to the actual conference which believe it or not, artists used to actually trade new white label promo records that had no been released yet or just got done being pressed right before WMC. If you were lucky enough you’d get your hands on some gems to drop in your sets. Ultra was not in downtown and it used to be a two stage festival on the sand around 23rd / 24th street.
As time has gone one, WMC has grown bigger than ever. Poolside events grew larger, stages grew larger and lineups became like mini-festival lineups everywhere you looked. Ultra as we all know, is now a three-day massive event and the stages are massive.
It’s no secret that South Beach over the years has been getting extremely ghetto and the crime that has taken over South Beach is extremely sad but that’s another conversation. The club culture in South Beach is almost nonexistent. A place that used to have legendary venues like Liquid, Shadow Lounge, and Mansion just to name a few, is down to a handful of nightclubs like Treehouse, Do Not Sit On The Furniture, Story, and LIV it seems.
It is true that over time, new areas in Miami have developed like downtown Miami which has the legendary Club Space and the one-of-a-kind Elleven. Other new areas have given Miami life like Wynwood where 15/20 years ago you wouldn’t stop at a red light there. Now it is the place to go with its unique graffiti walls, restaurants, shops, and party spots.
This was the first MMW since 2019, which was great to be a part of again and see a lot of industry friends and artists. The vibes at most of the events were amazing, to say the least. It was, however, the first MMW that I spent the least amount of time at in South Beach. I definitely spent more time driving from event to event than walking from event to event. It felt like the Wynwood Music Week! Is this the end of the bulk of events that used to take place in South Beach during MMW? I know it’s been painful to witness the beach slowly die but only time will tell if MMW events will be back in full force in South Beach.
Angel Matos
East Coast Director
Meet the rest of the SGM team here!