The Future Music Festival is a multi-stage, nationwide touring music festival held in late February to early March each year in Australia. It is organized by Future Entertainment, a Melbourne-based, youth-focused entertainment company founded in 1993. From its humble beginnings as a single day, 6000 person event at Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse in 2006, the Future Music Festival has experienced a dramatic increase in popularity, often pulling in an excess of 40-50,000 people per city.

However, the Future Music Festival’s popularity has also been a main source of problems for both its organisers and participants, and in the past the festival has been marred with issues like overcrowding, inadequate sound and complaints from neighbours. For instance, in 2008, local officials in Sydney threatened to reduce the size of the event there and move its finish time to 6 PM in response to complaints by residents about things like public fornication and vomiting on private property. Since then, the Future Music Festival has increased its police and security presence and urged its patrons to be mindful of their behaviour, taking a strict policy against anti-social behaviour, excessive alcohol use and the use and sale of illegal drugs. The Future Music Festival has also moved to bigger venues and increased spending on its productions; over the years, the festival has been witness to more complex and elaborate musical acts which are now often accompanied by live visual shows.

Despite its past problems, the Future Music Festival continues to grow and be successful, mainly because of the unusually strong line-ups that its organisers manage to book each year. Though it started as a festival which brought artists who appealed mainly to the rave and dance music crowd, the festival has gone on to offer a more diverse line-up catering to a more general audience. This year, the Future Music Festival is set to bring such international hits as New Order, Swedish House Mafia, Fatboy Slim, Aphex Twin, Gym Class Heroes, LCD Soundsystem, Jessie J, Skrillex and the Wombats, and many more lesser-known, up-and-coming artists as well. For many of these artists, the Future Music Festival may be the only chance to see them in Australia this year. With over forty artists set to perform on several different stages, the Future Music Festival often forces tough decisions for festival-goers who wish to see as many acts as they possibly can.

Tickets for the 2012 Future Music Festival are available via Ticketmaster, and ticket prices are currently around $150 for general admission tickets and $200 or more for VIP tickets. VIP tickets offer special privileges like exclusive access to several designated VIP areas, express entry into the event and separate bar and toilet facilities. Future Entertainment and Ticketmaster also offer a "book now, pay later" option, which allows patrons to reserve ticket with an initial deposit, with the remaining balance paid off via credit card on a fortnightly cycle.

The Future Music Festival is poised to become 2012's biggest music festival in every city that it visits this year. Always seemingly dedicated to topping its previous year, 2012 is also the Future Music Festival's global debut, with a Future Music Festival in Asia set to occur in March of this year.