Rio Grand

Inspired by Miami's WMC, last year's inaugural Rio Music Conference proved a successful start to the city's attempts to focus the attention of dance music's global community upon it.

With guest DJs David Guetta, Armin Van Buuren, Sven Väth, Erick Morillo and Pete Tong helping to draw over 17,000 people, it boasted a host of networking events, all taking place at the same time as Rio's world famous carnival.

With the city since confirmed to host the 2016 Olympics, confidence is riding high and there are larger plans too for this year's Rio Music Conference, which takes place 10th – 16tt February.

"This year is about getting the scene more organised so we can increase the exposure of Rio and get more visitors to the city," says RMC's Executive Director Claudio Da Rocha Mirando Filho.

Reaching out to all Rio's clubs and labels to provide a truer representation of what the city offers, larger official parties will still invite bigger name guests, the profits of which will go back into the conference, but smaller clubs are also being encouraged to throw satellite parties around the conference.

Beginning on a Wednesday, an exposition fair will feature major industry brands, with accompanying artist panels, including a Q&A with the ever popular Ritchie Hawtin, talks and workshops and a Skol Beats School all planned.

As carnival celebrations begin on Friday, so do the official conference parties, starring headliners Bob Sinclair, Erik Morillo, Steve Angello, Sharam Jay, Armin Van Buuren and Ritchie Hawtin.

Filho is also responsible for the city's eight-year-old Chemical Music Festival, a 20,000-capacity multi-tented event, and Intera, a smaller event for 500 people featuring not just dance music, but also live acts like the Ting Tings, and he hopes that by 2011 the conference will be able to diversify similarly.

"At the moment it's about dance music. But eventually we want it to be about all music," he smiles.