The original idea of Sofia Music Enterprises for this festival was to continue the good traditions established by the annual jazz meetings held until 1990, as well as to move in line with the modern global tendencies in the art of music. The festival started in 1996 with the name of Sofia Jazz Festival. The following editions (1997 and 1998) increased its popularity and established it as one of the most significant cultural events in Bulgaria. World-famous artists, together with the best Bulgarian and East-European jazz musicians, have attended this prestigious music forum.
In 1999, the far-sighted founders, the musicians with the artistic names Funky and The Amoeba, basing on their profound observations on the development of global music trends, decided to break the strict jazz requirements of the festival. Against the backdrop of the general tendency of merging multiple music genres, the idea emerged for giving a new name to the festival - MusicJam, which provides wider opportunities for all kinds of high-quality music performances. The logo was also changed in the direction of broader artistic implications, musical humor and a sense freedom. The exact idea of the founders is to turn the elegant eclectics of jazz, blues, rock, ethno, classic and fine arts into a several-day long fair of culture.