Just as citizens of a nation must be educated about their rights to ensure that they are protected and upheld, so too must those who compose words and music know the rights that support their own acts of creation. Without these rights, which directly emanate from the U.S. Constitution, many who dream of focusing their talents and energies on music creation would be economically unable to do so – an outcome that would diminish artistic expression today and for future generations.

At this time, when so many forces are seeking to diminish copyright protections and devalue artistic expression, this Bill of Rights for Songwriters and Composers looks to clarify the entitlements that every music creator enjoys.

1. We have the right to be compensated for the use of our creative works, and share in the revenues that they generate.

2. We have the right to license our works and control the ways in which they are used.

3. We have the right to withhold permission for uses of our works on artistic, economic or philosophical grounds.

4. We have the right to protect our creative works to the fullest extent of the law from all forms of piracy, theft and unauthorized use, which deprive us of our right to earn a living based on our creativity.

5. We have the right to choose when and where our creative works may be used for free.

6. We have the right to develop, document and distribute our works through new media channels – while retaining the right to a share in all associated profits.

7. We have the right to choose the organizations we want to represent us and to join our voices together to protect our rights and negotiate for the value of our music.

8. We have the right to earn compensation from all types of “performances,” including direct, live renditions as well as indirect recordings, broadcasts, digital streams and more.

9. We have the right to decline participation in business models that require us to relinquish all or part of our creative rights – or which do not respect our right to be compensated for our work.

10. We have the right to advocate for strong laws protecting our creative works, and demand that our government vigorously uphold and protect our rights.

Dopo il successo riscontrato allo Shelburne lounge abbiamo suonato di nuovo Live al Pelican Hotel su l’Ocean Drive, al party organizzato da Fabio Genito (Vega Records).

Miami! Oh its all so confusing, “Who’s on When?” and “Where?”, and “What are we missing now?!” sometimes it’s all just a little bit too much like work, this full time partying lark. Well, never fear!, the clever bods at DJ Mag and the Shelborne have a solution “Lets pick a spot (The Shelborne) and just stay there all week, whilst they bring the party to us”.

Now it might sound a little bit familiar, to those of us old enough to remember, way back in the day, when the Music Conference started, it was actually held in a hotel just down the block, and only in recent years migrated to an actual conference centre, driving most of the cooler parties Downtown, and leaving some hotels with mediocre events and Spring Breakers booze cruises.

Some might wonder why, as the hotel format seems so much more sociable, but times they do change, and then, apparently, just as easily change back again.

This March, from Tuesday 24th right through to the early hours of Monday 30th, the Shelborne Hotel and Resort will be host to DJ Mag’s very own week long residency, featuring the sort of line up that’d make the Ultra Fest weep with envy, and the cab drivers spew with the thought of all the lost revenue from their extortionate Downtown-to-SoBe fares. This spring, it all comes back to South Beach.

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As DJ Mag (UK)’s Editor Leslie Wright, no newcomer to the WMC herself, explains, “For us at DJ Mag, I mean, maybe we’re just getting lazy in our old age, but we find that when we go over for the WMC… we end up running round like blue-arsed flies trying to get to all the parties, and make sure we cover everything, and even if we cut ourselves in 2 we’d just never get to cover everything that we want to. So this year we decided to hook up with The Shelborne, partly because we know the guys well, and we know what they’re trying to achieve there, but also to give DJ Mag a bit of a concentrated focus to the week, so rather than it just being, oh look we’re DJ Mag and we’re in Miami; it’s This is DJ Mag, and this is what we’re doing this week.“

Besides the mother of all parties to kick off the week on Wednesday – check the line-up of the Recession Session here – the Lounge of The Shelborne will also be given over to (slightly) more serious activities throughout the week.

“I refuse to call them ‘Panels’ or “Forums’, I mean it’s like, ‘Whoa, I’m in Miami lets go to a seminar – F*** that!’…We’d just like to bridge the gap between the people on the dance floor and the people behind the decks“

Which means that you can pop along to the Lounge with your latest demo, for a listening session with Fedde le Grand no less, or Marcus Schulz, and receive advice on how to get those tracks signed. Thursday will see a Q&A with Carl Cox on his latest DVD offering, and Friday Richie Hawtin will have a chat about carbon footprints and DJ-ing. Pacemaker will be demonstrating their latest gadgets and offering a free tutorial, all without the need to buy into the whole WMC Conference package.

And the rest of the line-up at the Pool and Shine, well lets just say it’s probably worth checking into the hotel itself cos there’s probably not a lot else to see here.

From Luciano & Locodice, to Josh Wink’s Ovum Party, to Danny Tenaglia’s Marathon, to Pacha Ibiza’s Music Festival all the way to and including the legendary Jonathan Peters Pool party, pretty much every essential.

Music Conference Event has shifted the Shelborne way….now what was it they used to say about networking around a pool in Miami? Think we know which pool they mean this year..

Questo è il programma del party che si terrà mercoledì 25 marzo 09 allo Shelborne Lounge, Miami Beach, durante la Winter Music Conference 2009, suonerò insieme a Gretchen Rhodes con la quale ho inciso il nuovo singolo ” I’ve Got Soul” insieme a Roberto Cecchetto alla Chitarra e Stefano Onorati al Piano. Si tratta di un Live Set con il DJ Pio Marasco

Special Guest Roberto Cecchetto on Guitar and Stefano Onorati on Piano.