2011 wasn’t a great year for the Miami Winter Music Conference. After organisers announced the program would be happening two weeks earlier than usual – putting it out of step with DJ schedules and the gargantuan Ultra Music Festival – it proved to be a ball-ache for attendees and industry alike.

The WMC still went ahead from March 8-12, but most of the key parties happened later in the month anyway in what was coined Miami Music Week. In the end, it meant a longer run of debauchery, but also a fair bit of confusion.

Things look clearer in 2012. If you’re planning a pilgrimage to Miami Beach, the WMC is now stretching across ten days – 16 to 25 March 2012. Expect details of all the parties to trickle out over the months ahead, from the intimate to the ridiculous (we’re wondering if the Swedish House Mafia will erect its Masquerade Motel on the beach again). There really is something for all tastes…you’ve just got to know how to pace a ten-day marathon.

As ever, the Ultra Music Festival will go all-out to steal WMC’s thunder. Even without a line-up, early bird tickets have already sold out for the three-day mega-rave (23, 24, 25 March in downtown Miami). Ultra is undoubtedly at the peak of its powers right now as you can witness in the big-budget trailer below. Read our wrap-up of the 2011 festival here, then start that savings account called ‘Miami’.