Soon after, however, he revealed that SHM would be taking on Ultra themselves, with a rival simultaneous beach party dubbed the Masquerade Hotel.

Three months on, both Masquerade Hotel and Ultra, with line-ups dominated by crossover pop/ trance DJs, have comfortably sold out, in contrast to many of the official WMC parties where the old guard of America's DJ elite (Danny Tenaglia, Frankie Knuckles and David Morales etc') are the main attractions.

While more than a few name DJs such as Todd Terry, Luciano and British progressive type Dave Seaman are spinning in Miami during both WMC and Ultra Festival weekends, others are choosing just one or staying away altogether such as US legend DJ Keoki.

"I will not be attending WMC this year because I have been asked to headline the South By Southwest music festival. Which I'm happy to say is a relief," Keoki told Infusion.

"To be quite honest, the WMC has become annoying," he explained.

"I did go last year and the year before and the year before that; like a robot stuck in a groove. But the event has been sliding steadily downhill certainly in terms of its fun factor and how beneficial it is for me and my life as a musician."

British tech house DJ Paolo Mojo was was enthusiastic about Miami in general, though less so about WMC.

"When and where is the official WMC? I think that tells you all you need to know about my level of awareness of the official conference. I've been to Miami every year since 2004 actually, had a great time, played some fantastic parties . . . and I've never set foot in the official conference," he laughed.

"Despite sometimes saying to myself Miami's not going to happen for me this year, it always inevitably does. Ill be heading there again at the end of March on 23rd. Not sure if this is the WMC or not?"