Floyd Soileau was born in a small community near Ville Platte, Louisiana. He grew up speaking Cajun French and did not learn English until he began school.

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During his junior year of high school, he worked part-time at KVPI radio in Ville Platte on an afternoon Cajun music show. After graduating from Ville Platte High in 1956, he opened a small record store called Floyd’s Record Shop. He soon discovered that while people still wanted Cajun French records, few were being produced. To meet that demand, he entered the recording business and released his first record on the Big Mamou label featuring Austin Pitre and Milton Molitor. In 1957, he launched his own label, Swallow Records.

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The now-legendary Swallow label has released 265 singles and 151 albums of Cajun French music, including recordings by Adam Hebert, Belton Richard, Dewey Balfa and the Balfa Brothers, Nathan Abshire, Jambalaya Cajun Band, Paul Daigle & Cajun Gold, D.L. Menard, and many others.

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In 1958, Soileau also started Jin Records, which recorded artists such as Clint West, Tommy McLain & the Boogie Kings, Lil' Bob & the Lollipops, Warren Storm, Skip Stewart, Rockin' Sidney, Rod Bernard, and Johnny Allan. Jin Records became a major force in the rise and popularity of what would later be known as swamp pop music.

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In 1975, Soileau founded another label, Maison de Soul, devoted to Creole and zydeco music. It featured artists such as Clifton Chenier, Rockin’ Dopsie, Keith Frank, Chris Ardoin, Zydeco Force, Jeffery Broussard, and others. Through his Swallow Publications imprint, he has also published books on the Cajun French language—including Cajun Dictionary and Self-Taught Cajun by Rev. Jules Daigle—as well as Jeff Hannusch’s I Hear You Knockin’, a landmark history of early New Orleans rhythm and blues.