"Turn Up the Music" was sent to contemporary hit radio playlists in the United States on February 7, 2012, as the lead single from Brown's fifth studio album Fortune (2012).

"Turn Up the Music" was written by Alexander "Fuego" Palmer, Chris Brown, Damon Thomas, Harvey Mason Jr., Michael "Mike J" Jimenez, Terence Cole and Agent X.

[5] The following day, both the single and its artwork were posted online, showing Brown wearing an unbuttoned shirt and a fedora, while words in different languages are displayed.

[8] However, in the United Kingdom, "Turn Up the Music" was released as a three-track digital download on March 25, 2012, which contained Brown's previous single "Strip" and the Invaderz remix of "Yeah 3x" (2010).

[23] Several images from the shoot were leaked online the same day, showing Brown in the passenger seat of a classic car, and standing shirtless on top of a vehicle with a group of people.

[21] The video showed Brown, dressed in a black suit, performing dance routines with several backup dancers in a club, surrounded by people wearing animal heads.

[22][24] The video is set at night and opens with Brown, dressed in a black suit, drinking alcohol in the streets, before hailing a futuristic hover-cab.

[25] As the song begins, Brown exits the cab and arrives at a street party filled with people wearing animal heads.

[25] During the first chorus, Brown arrives inside the main room of the club filled with flashing lights and people dancing while wearing animal heads.

[25] During the second chorus, Brown enters another room surrounded by people in animal heads, and performs the third dance sequence in the video with his backup dancers.

[25] In other scenes, he is seen dancing alone with a cane in a rain-filled room, wearing white dress pants, a black tank top and a fedora.

[26] Katie Hasty of HitFix gave the video a positive review, writing "there is a serious series of sweeping dance shots that may impress the hating-est of haters".

[28] Meena Rupani of DesiHits felt that the video took her "into a whole different world" that reminded her of the films Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Men in Black (1997).

[29] Jocelyn Vena of MTV News called it an "eye-popping video" and noted that there were several outfits Brown wore that paid homage to Michael Jackson.

[30] This was echoed by Amy Sciarretto of PopCrush who wrote that Brown's dance routines were "quite reminiscent of Michael Jackson and his classic, dance-driven videos".

[31] Joey of WXRK found the video to "be a hybrid between Michael Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal', a party that Ke$ha would be at, and that scene from Fame when everyone is dancing in the streets on top of cabs and cars".

[35] "Turn Up the Music" was performed live for the first time at the 54th Grammy Awards ceremony, which took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on February 12, 2012.

[36] Brown and his backup dancers performed heavily choreographed routines to "Turn Up the Music" atop a collection of blocks, which changed from colors red to blue to yellow and green.

[39] Brown performed a shortened version of "Turn Up the Music" during the halftime show of the 2012 NBA All-Star Game in Orlando on February 26, 2012.

[45] The performance began when Brown entered the stage on a fluorescent bike and asked his astronaut doll to activate the fun zone.

[45] The performance received a mixed response from celebrities, most notably Joe Jonas, Pink and Carey Hart, who all criticized Brown for lip-synching.

[46] On June 8, 2012, Brown performed "Turn Up the Music" on Today as part of its Summer Concert Series, for which he wore a New York Yankees cap, a multicolored Snow Beach Polo jacket, black jeans and white sneakers.

[48] Brown performed acrobatic moves with six backup dancers "under triangle-shaped beams" as green and red flashing lights appeared throughout the stage.

[51] Mark Iraheta of Complex magazine called "Turn Up the Music" a "soon-to-be smash" that will see Brown making "substantial damage on the Top 100 charts".

[52] Robbie Daw of Idolator described the song as "energetic" and wrote that it follows in the footsteps of Brown's past hits "Forever" (2008) and "Yeah 3x", "but with more dancefloor urgency".

[53] Melinda Newman of HitFix described "Turn Up the Music" as a cousin to LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" (2011), and called it "an absolute smash".

[54] Scott Shelter of PopCrush awarded the song three and a half stars out of four, and noted its similarities to the work of David Guetta and LMFAO.

[15] Andrew Martin of Prefix magazine was critical of the song, writing that it sounds like a left over track from Guetta's album Nothing but the Beat (2011).

[33] In Australia, "Turn Up the Music" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number thirteen on February 20, 2012, becoming the highest new entry for that week.