Unfortunately, we can't say that this practice is a unique to Ultra problem. The same thing takes place all around the world, and sadly, the trend isn't going away.

Personally, I don't see WMC being at all like it was in the past. I see it still having a conference, but with Ultra's money push behind it, it wont cater to the artist as much as the patron who wants more experiences -- ala as a pass to events more so. I'm sure they'll have some speakers, but will it really be the old-school gathering of the industry to spin up the machine and grow the talent base? If I look at Ultra as a brand, I don't think they do that well, so I don't see a big reason to have faith in the situation. Time will tell though.

It wont surprise me if they lump in some "festival event" to give out IDMAs at by any means.