Florida Music Festival was founded in 2002 by aXis Magazine & Promotions as a three-day music festival and conference, showcasing unsigned talent and promoting major national acts. Every spring in Downtown Orlando, the Florida Music Festival showcases more than 250 unsigned bands and solo artists of all genres for the attending music industry professionals, on 15 indoor and outdoor stages. In addition to the three day 'rock and roll bar crawl,' industry professionals from all levels of the music business, including record label reps, booking agents, video game and television licensing firms and major producers speak at the conference seminars by day, and scout unsigned talent by day only.
The Festival
Each night features a national headliner on the mainstage at Wall St Plaza in the center of Downtown. Past headliners include
Cowboy Mouth
Cowboy Mouth is an American band based in New Orleans, Louisiana known for fusing alternative rock with album-oriented rock, roots rock, and jam band influences. Formed in 1992, the band saw early mainstream success in the 1990s, including th ...
(2002),
Vonray
Vonray was an American alternative rock band from Orlando, Florida, United States. The group formed around singer/songwriter Vaughan Rhea, originally from Tennessee, who had come to Orlando playing as an acoustic coffee shop act with his brothe ...
(2002),
Mofro
JJ Grey & Mofro (formerly Mofro) is an American Southern soul-rock band from Jacksonville, Florida.
History Early career
The early days of Mofro can be traced back to the mid-nineties when John Higginbotham aka "JJ Grey" and Daryl Hance signed ...
(2003),
Less Than Jake
Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxoph ...
/
Buckcherry
Buckcherry is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, ''Buckcherry'' (1999) and ''Time Bomb'' (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckcherry's first album ''Buckcherry'' was DreamWorks first a ...
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label recor ...
/
Mofro
JJ Grey & Mofro (formerly Mofro) is an American Southern soul-rock band from Jacksonville, Florida.
History Early career
The early days of Mofro can be traced back to the mid-nineties when John Higginbotham aka "JJ Grey" and Daryl Hance signed ...
/
Kyle Cook
David Kyle Cook (born August 29, 1975) is an American musician best known as a member of the band Matchbox Twenty, serving as the lead guitarist, banjo player, backing and occasional lead vocalist.
Career Matchbox Twenty
Kyle Cook joined Mat ...
of
Matchbox Twenty
Matchbox Twenty (also known as Matchbox 20 and MB20) is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, r ...
(2006),
Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly is an Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk bandLife Is Good Out Now Floggingmolly. ...
/
Seven Mary Three
Seven Mary Three (occasionally abbreviated to 7 Mary 3 or 7M3) was an American rock band. They released seven studio albums and one live album, and are best known for their hit single "Cumbersome".
Career Formation
Seven Mary Three formed in ...
(2007),
Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group is an American performance art company formed in 1987. It was purchased in July 2017 by the Canadian company Cirque du Soleil. Blue Man Group is known for its stage productions, which incorporate many kinds of music and art, bot ...
/
Pras
Prakazrel Samuel Michel (; born October 19, 1972) is a Haitian-American rapper, producer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the hip hop group Fugees, alongside Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. After the Fugees, he earned two ...
(2008) and
Filter
Filter, filtering or filters may refer to:
Science and technology
Computing
* Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming
* Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream
* Filter (video), a software component tha ...
/
Yellowman
Winston Foster , better known by the stage name Yellowman, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay, also known as King Yellowman. He first became popular in Jamaica in the 1980s, rising to prominence with a series of singles that established ...
/
Paul Doucette
Paul John Doucette (born August 22, 1972) is an American musician best known for being the drummer, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the band Matchbox Twenty.Erlewine, Stephen ThomasMatchbox Twenty Biography, AllMusic, retrieved 2011-0 ...
of
Matchbox Twenty
Matchbox Twenty (also known as Matchbox 20 and MB20) is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, r ...
(2009),
Anberlin
Anberlin is an American alternative rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band consists of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, an ...
/
Less Than Jake
Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxoph ...
/
Rusted Root
Rusted Root is an American worldbeat rock band formed in 1990 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by singer-guitarist Michael Glabicki (born January 21, 1971), bassist Patrick Norman and percussionist Liz Berlin. The band got its start as the house ba ...
(2010),
Minus The Bear
Minus the Bear was an American indie rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2001, and comprising members of Botch, Kill Sadie, and Sharks Keep Moving. Their sound was described as " Pele-esque guitar-taps and electronics with sophisticate ...
/
JJ Grey & Mofro
JJ Grey & Mofro (formerly Mofro) is an American Southern soul- rock band from Jacksonville, Florida.
History Early career
The early days of Mofro can be traced back to the mid-nineties when John Higginbotham aka "JJ Grey" and Daryl Hance signe ...
/
Easy Star All Stars
Easy Star All-Stars is a reggae collective founded in 1997 by Michael Goldwasser, Eric Smith, Lem Oppenheimer and Remy Gerstein of New York City-based Easy Star Records. The band is known for its reinterpretations of classic albums in reggae styl ...
/
Better Than Ezra
Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and signed with The End Records. The band formed in 1988 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and consists of Kevin Griffin (vocals and guitar), Tom Drummond (bass g ...
(2011),
The Dirty Heads
Dirty Heads is an American reggae rock band from Huntington Beach, California. Their debut album, ''Any Port in a Storm'', was released on September 23, 2008, by Executive Music Group (Fontana/Universal). Their newest album, ''Midnight Control' ...
/
Filter
Filter, filtering or filters may refer to:
Science and technology
Computing
* Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming
* Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream
* Filter (video), a software component tha ...
/
Candlebox
Candlebox is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since its formation in 1990, the group has released seven studio albums, several charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD.
Candlebox found immediate success with the release of ...
Charlie Worsham
Charlie Worsham (born September 1, 1985) is an American country music singer, songwriter and actor. He is signed to Warner Bros. Records. Charlie is currently a member of Dierks Bentley's tour band. He is a former member of the band Old Crow Med ...
The Supervillains
The Supervillains is a five-piece reggae, ska/punk band from St. Cloud, Florida. The band has released nine studio albums.
History Formation and ''Self-Titled EP'' (1996–2000)
During the summer of 1996, Floridian high school friends Scott " ...
Roadkill Ghost Choir
Roadkill Ghost Choir was an American alternative rock band from DeLand, Florida.
In January 2014, they performed on '' Late Night with David Letterman'', and had notable appearances at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Governors Ball festivals. In ...
/
Less Than Jake
Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxoph ...
/
Ed Kowalczyk
Edward Joel Kowalczyk (; born July 16, 1971)"Edward Kowalczyk IMDb entry" '' of
Live
Live may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film
* ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film
*'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD)
Music
*Live (band), American alternative rock band
* List of albums ...
/
Solillaquists of Sound
Solillaquists of Sound, often shortened to Solilla, is an American hip-hop quartet based in Orlando, Florida. Its line up currently consists of MCs Alexandrah and Swamburger, poet Tonya Combs and producer/composer Divinci. Solillaquists utili ...
(2014) have performed for more than 300,000 music fans in ''
Downtown Orlando
Downtown Orlando is the historic core and central business district of Orlando, Florida, United States. It is bordered by Marks Street in the north, Mills Avenue (SR 15) in the east, Orange Blossom Trail (US 441) in the west, and Kaley Avenue in th ...
'' over the past 18 years.
The Showcases
Unsigned acts showcasing for the industry include
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
Flyleaf
Flyleaf may refer to:
*In book design, a blank leaf in the front or back cover
* Flyleaf (band)
Flyleaf is an American rock band formed in Belton, Texas, in 2002. The band has charted on mainstream rock, Christian pop, and Christian metal ...
Manchester Orchestra
Manchester Orchestra is an American indie rock band from Atlanta formed in 2004. The group is composed of rhythm guitarist-singer-songwriter Andy Hull, lead guitarist Robert McDowell, bassist Andy Prince and drummer Tim Very. Former drummer Jer ...
,
Francesca Battistelli
Francesca Battistelli (born May 18, 1985) is an American Christian singer and songwriter. She was originally an independent artist and had released an independent album, ''Just a Breath'', in 2004. Her first studio album on Fervent Records, '' M ...
(2005),
Black Tide
Black Tide was an American heavy metal band from Kendall, Florida. Formed in 2004, the band last consisted of Gabriel Garcia (lead guitar, lead vocals), Austin Diaz (rhythm guitar) and Cody Paige (drums). They released their debut album, ''Lig ...
(2006), There For Tomorrow (2007), Between The Trees (2008) and many more success stories. More than 3000 unsigned bands have played the stages of FMF over the past 18 years.
The Conference
The Music Industry Educational Seminars have included such speakers and panelists as
John Janick
John Janick is an American record executive. He is the chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records.
Janick has been named to Billboard’s Power 100 list every year since 2014 and was named Variety's Hitmakers Executive of the year in 2018 ...
(Founder:
Fueled By Ramen
Fueled by Ramen LLC is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by 300 Elektra Entertainment. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1996, is now based in New York City.
History
John Janick conceived of the lab ...
/ CEO:
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...
),
Kevin Lyman
Kevin Lyman is the founder and operator of thKevin Lyman Group formerly known as 4Fini, Inc., a live event production company and brand strategy firm. His most notable live production is the live music festival series Vans Warped Tour, which attrac ...
(Founder of
The Vans Warped Tour
The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touri ...
Bonnaroo
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in M ...
),
Monte Lipman
Monte Lipman is an American music industry executive and film producer. He is the founder and current CEO of Republic Records. Over the course of his career, he has worked with a wide range of artists, including James Blake, Drake, Florence ...
Universal Republic Records
Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an i ...
), Melvin Benn (
Festival Republic
Festival Republic is a UK music promoter. It was founded as Mean Fiddler Group in 1982 by Irish-born chairman John Vincent Power, as a venue-management and music-promotion group. After the group was taken over by Hamsard Ltd in 2005, the focus b ...
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
Lou Pearlman
Louis Jay Pearlman (June 19, 1954 – August 19, 2016) was an American record producer. He was the person behind many successful 1990s boy bands, having formed and funded the Backstreet Boys. After their massive success, he then developed NSYNC. ...
Richard Reines
Richard Reines is an American recording industry executive who is co-owner of Drive-Thru Records with his sister, Stefanie Reines. Since its establishment in 1996, Drive-Thru Records has achieved notable success with bands including New Found Gl ...
(Founder:
Drive Thru Records
Drive-Thru Records was a California-based independent record label owned by siblings Richard and Stefanie Reines. The label was partially responsible for popularizing the pop-punk/emo merger sound of the early to mid-2000s. After facing financi ...
),
Rodney Jerkins
Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), also known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists.
Jerkins has won multiple Grammy Awards. Among hi ...
(Producer: Michael Jackson/Beyoncé),
Richard Gottehrer
Richard Gottehrer (born 1940) is an American songwriter, record producer and record label executive. In 1997, he co-founded the Orchard with longtime business partner Scott Cohen, an independent music distribution company.
His career began as ...
House of Blues
House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...
),
Paul Doucette
Paul John Doucette (born August 22, 1972) is an American musician best known for being the drummer, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the band Matchbox Twenty.Erlewine, Stephen ThomasMatchbox Twenty Biography, AllMusic, retrieved 2011-0 ...
and
Kyle Cook
David Kyle Cook (born August 29, 1975) is an American musician best known as a member of the band Matchbox Twenty, serving as the lead guitarist, banjo player, backing and occasional lead vocalist.
Career Matchbox Twenty
Kyle Cook joined Mat ...
(
Matchbox Twenty
Matchbox Twenty (also known as Matchbox 20 and MB20) is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, r ...
),
Chris Kirkpatrick
Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick (born October 17, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, music producer, and occasional actor, who is best known for his work as the founding member of the pop group NSYNC, in which he sang countertenor. He ...
(' N Sync) and many more industry professionals representing various aspects of the music, tech and arts communities including
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
,
Fuse TV
Fuse is an American pay television channel launched in 1994 which was originally dedicated to music. After merging with the Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latino-oriented NuvoTV in 2015, Fuse shifted its focus to general entertainment and lifestyl ...
,
Live Nation
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...
,
Hard Rock Live
The Hard Rock Live is an indoor amphitheater at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The theater opened on October 25, 2019, as part of a $1.5 billion property-wide expansion, which also included a new 450-foot guitar ...
and more.
The Indie Film Jam
The FMF Indie Film Jam was introduced in 2005 creating an avenue for music inspired documentaries, short films and artist videos. The inaugural year celebrated Florida's own Tom Dowd with the documentary The Language of Music ', depicting his work as a producer shaping the Southern Rock sound with
The Allman Brothers
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guitar, ...
among others. The sophomore edition, IFJ2006 featured the exploration of a sister city festival to Orlando, promoting the annual Iceland Airwaves and Icelandic musical heritage with ''
Screaming Masterpiece
''Screaming Masterpiece'' (''Gargandi snilld'' in Icelandic) is a 2005 documentary film directed and written by Ari Alexander Ergis Magnússon about the music scene in Iceland. It attempts to explore the reasons why Iceland has such a rich var ...
''. IFJ2007 welcomed MainStage headliners
Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly is an Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk bandLife Is Good Out Now Floggingmolly. ...
with a screening of their tour documentary Whiskey on a Sunday, further promoting the synergy between the stage and the screen. Placing the musician on the street, in a literal fashion, the 2009 Indie Film Jam was proud to welcome to
Pras Michel
Prakazrel Samuel Michel (; born October 19, 1972) is a Haitian-American rapper, producer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the hip hop group Fugees, alongside Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. After the Fugees, he earned two ...
of the
Fugees
Fugees (; sometimes The Fugees) is an American hip hop group formed in the early 1990s. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to fame with its ...
to introduce his documentary on the darker side of Los Angeles in ''
Skid Row
A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...
Matchbox Twenty
Matchbox Twenty (also known as Matchbox 20 and MB20) is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, r ...
took home the IFJ acclaim for his artistic video for the single "You Won't Be Able To Be Sad."2014
The Rock Walk Art Show
The Annual Rock Walk offers the Third Thursday patrons roaming the Downtown Cultural Corridor a chance to experience music inspired installations and exhibits. Various formats are included with national artists located in the Central Florida area, such as Rock Poster exhibits by Greg 'Stainboy' Reinel, Jeff Matz and Erin Nolan, public art from the renowned Andrew Spear and more.
The Media & Critics
• ''"I went to SXSW for 18 of the first 20 years, but it's so overwhelming at that festival for a young band, it's hard to stand out. FMF2017 I felt like I was at SXSW when it started, all about the artists and the music."
Kevin Lyman
Kevin Lyman is the founder and operator of thKevin Lyman Group formerly known as 4Fini, Inc., a live event production company and brand strategy firm. His most notable live production is the live music festival series Vans Warped Tour, which attrac ...
/
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...
Founder
• 100 Things to Be Thankful For in Orlando. • Named one of the ''Top 25 Music Festivals in the Southeast'' by the ''Weekly Planet'' (Tampa) and ''Creative Loafing'' (Atlanta)