M3 Summit

The third annual M3 Summit took place in Miami Beach yet again this past March, but unlike in years past, M3 was not booked to run concurrent to the longer-running and oft maligned Winter Music Conference. Overlapping for just two days, rather than directly competing for dance music industry attention, M3 and WMC have come to represent the two seemingly separate sides of the dance music business. While M3 has staked out the more sophisticated, urbane side of the music, both in terms of the aesthetics of their programming and in the progressive bent of their educational and professional programs, WMC continues to thrive as ground zero for the US club music industry, pushing the glitz, glamour and pomp of South Beach's already decadent nightlife to new extremes.

The scheduling decision is not simply a recognition of these two conferences differences, but a confirmation that M3 has matured from a truly upstart coutnerconference into a full stop stand alone event with enough gravity to attract a totally different set of attendees.

So here's a quick look at what M3 had in stores for the thousands of music industry professionals, entrepreneurs, producers, performers, DJs and electronic music fans who ponied up to $150 to register:

Spread over 4 days, M3 included a multimedia program (conducted in partnership with the Sagamore Hotel and North Miami's Museum of Contemporary Art) which aired daily from 3-7pm and was open to the public for free. Additionally, M3 hosted two days of panel discussions and keynote speeches at the National Hotel, and four days of music programming at the Surfcomber Hotel, whose massive outdoor swimming pool area was transformed into a mini tradeshow, industry networking area and live music space, complete with grilled burgers and loads of complementary cocktails. In the Absolut sponsored VIP area, attendees could even try their hand on some cutting edge video mixing equipment or get a quick back massage.

Meanwhile onstage M3's organizers- which included music journalist David Prince, Flavorpill's Sasha Lewis and Mark Mangan, Jonathan Rudnick (founder of Giant Step) and NYC pr and marketing firm Girlie Action- booked an eclectic program of performers, ranging from DJs like Louie Vega, Vitalic and Brazil?s DJ Marlboro to live acts like Kudu, Hot Chip, the Hypnotic Brass Band, and Jamie Lidell who performed both during the afternoon and after the conference wrapped up each day. As a survey of where electronic music is in 2006, M3 did a pretty good job in terms of reigning in a diverse survey of artists, ranging from edgy up-and-coming DJs to some of Europe's most innovative talents and more than a few American noisemakers, both new and old. Whereas WMC really tends to focus in on what keeps the glowstick-toting set dancing until the wee hours, M3 presented electronic music as far more than the soundtrack to heady nights on the town.

In addition, M3 partnered with numerous events happening all around Miami during the days of the conference. Reduced or free admission to these "passport events" with the same registration laminate M3 registrants received. Passport events included: RE:UP Magazine's shin dig with Nublu Records, Giant Step's legendary Miami party, Maximum Capacity featuring Juan Maclean, Justice, and Audion, a rare Miami performance by Detroit's Three Chairs, and the daily Rest Relax Recover barbeque at the Fairwinds Hotel.

A complement to the M3 summit, the multimedia program included video art from the Sagamore's collection, the MOCA collection, and contributions from the MOCA's Optic Nerve series focusing on artists from South Florida. Included pieces by Natalia Benedetti, Tracy Emin, Bruce Nauman, Ali Prosch, and Kyle Trowbridge.

However unlikely it may seem, some folks actually get work done during Conference Week, which is notoriously short on business and long on hedonism. Those that made it out of bed in time to get to the National for M3's Summit program had a wealth of fascinating panels and keynotes to catch. Inspired by Wired Magazine's Chris Anderson, who penned a famous article entitled "The Long Tail" back in 2004 (it's soon to be released as a full length book by Hyperion), M3's Summit took an indepth look at how new technologies are radically reshaping the business landscape of popular culture, with a special emphasis on resources and techniques creatives and indie publishers can leverage in this new climate.

Entitled "The Future of the Music Business" a panel featuring acclaimed DJ Gilles Peterson as well as several folks from the emerging digital and intellectual property rights management field discussed consumer buying habits, innovative marketing techniques, branding and how to better manage content rights in the face of media consolidation and internet piracy.

Helmed by perennial friend-to-EMERGE Andrew Smith of XLR8R Magazine, "How To Make A Living Doing What We Love" explored ways in which entrepreneurs and business people can continue to develop new revenue streams as more and more of the content we consume moves onto the net and out of traditional retail stores. The panel also discussed sponsorships, licensing and commercial music production.

The other notable panel, "Building and Maintaining An Audience" centered on the global marketplace, which like never before has become accessible to independent artists thanks to inventive online promotion, social networking, alternative distribution avenues and the creation of an international "lifestyle" class which seems to transcend geography. Panelists representing companies like XM Radio, MySpace, Crispin, Porter and Bogusky, Microsoft and hitmaking radio station KEXP all weighed in on the methods, both trusted and novel, artists are employing to get their work into the hands of their audience without the support of traditional media and marketing resources.

The central theme of M3's Summit, of course, was Chris Anderson's keynote, during which he discussed the Long Tail, his model for the emerging online content economy which prizes niche markets over the hit-driven model prevalent at brick and mortar retail. Anderson?s original article in Wired discussing the Long Tail has become a touchstone amongst industry insiders, but to ensure that M3 attendees were familiar, Wired reprinted the article in a mini edition given to every registrant. With the success of businesses like Amazon.com, ITunes, Rhapsody, and Netflix as evidence of the long tail's power and money-making potential, M3 worked closely with a number of smaller businesses such as Digiwaxx, IRIS, and BeatPort to ensure that M3 attendees walked away understanding not just the conceptual basis for Anderson's argument but who the relevant players in the dance music field are as well.

All in all, M3 appeared to be an unqualified success. Well attended, fascinating, fun and challenging, the Summit has indeed carved out a space for itself amongst the sun, surf and bad behavior that have become hallmarks of the dance music industry's descent onto Miami Beach each March. Here's hoping that next year's M3 continues to grow and expand the parameters of what is dance music and how the industry surrounding it can grow and adapt to a quickly changing cultural climate.

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