The New Music Seminar (NMS) was a series of multi-venue music showcases held annually in New York City, in the month of June, from 1980 to 1995, then relaunched in 2009.
In addition to music industry panels and exhibits, which mostly took place in hotel conference rooms, the NMS hosted hundreds of bands every year, who would come from around the world to perform for music industry insiders.
Performances were held in upwards of 30 New York City area clubs and venues for a week, and eventually, passes to this festival were made publicly available.
The music festival itself was initially called "New York Nights" and later, "New Music Nights."
In 2009, the New Music Seminar was relaunched by two of its original organizers, Tom Silverman and Dave Lory, as a touring series.
A "first annual" showcase with the name New Music Seminar was held October 31 & November 1, 2008, in Cleveland, Ohio. A second event was announced for May 2009 in New York City. These events, organized by New Music Seminar, LLC of New York, are not connected to the original seminar series or the relaunch by Silverman & Lory.