PHILADLEPHIA — It’s a milestone year for the Philly Music Fest.

In 2017, Greg Seltzer and his wife, Jenn, founded the nonprofit festival that presents only Philly or Philly-connected acts at various independent venues, raising money to benefit music education organizations in the city.

This year’s weeklong event is the PMF’s 10th. The fest begins Monday, Oct. 12, with the first of two nights at Ardmore Music Hall, headlined by Gregory Alan Isakov, and concludes Sunday, Oct. 18, with jazz saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins at Solar Myth.

PMF 2026 will present 25 bands in nine showcases at six venues, bringing the total number of acts presented over the past decade to 175.

In that time, says Greg Seltzer, a Ballard Spahr attorney as well as supporter of the Philly music scene, the PMF has donated $650,000 to music educations programs like Rock to the Future, Settlement Music School, Beyond the Bars, and Key of She.

The economic impact in the region — including payments to bands, venues, and local vendors — runs somewhere between $2 and $3 million, Seltzer says, with the weeklong fest having grown to donating $100,000 to charity and generating $600,000 in economic impact per year.

This year’s fest has many cool first-time gets. Only jazz percussionist-poet Angelo Outlaw (who is on an Oct. 15 MilkBoy Philly bill headlined by RJD2) and Remember Sports (on a loaded bill with Sweet Pill, Wax Jaw, and Midfield on Oct. 16 at Underground Arts), have played the PMF before.

Acts making their PMF debuts include DJ-bandleader RJD2, country-folk songwriter Madi Diaz, metal quintet Dillinger Escape Plan, Philly emo quartet Marietta, Delaware-bred folkie Sug Daniels, and funk-soul rock-and-roller Owen Stewart.

The big new PMF development, however, happens before any of the music showcases even begin.

It’s the expansion of Inside Hustle, the music industry networking event that debuted as part of the PMF in 2018.

From its inception, the idea behind Inside Hustle has been to redress the imbalance that has always been an issue with the Philadelphia music scene.

That is, the city has always produced incomparable musicians and great music but has been lacking in infrastructure compared to industry centers like New York, Los Angeles and Nashville, Tennessee.

Earlier this year, Inside Hustle, which is designed to bring aspiring music business professionals together with industry insiders, grew from a twice-a-year event to a monthly get-together at the Ethical Society on Rittenhouse Square.

Now the confab is having another growth spurt. On Oct. 10, the PMF is presenting this year’s Inside Hustle along with Philadelphia Music Alliance, Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal School of Media Art & Design, and University of Pennsylvania radio station WXPN-FM (88.5), in its biggest iteration by far at the URBN Center on the Drexel campus.

The four-hour daytime session will include 10 panels with titles like “Getting the Gig 101″ and “Breaking into Music Marketing,” plus opportunities to meet music business pros, and a keynote speech by Toby Leaman of Dr. Dog.

The idea, says Seltzer, is to show the Philadelphia music scene has come of age as a place to do business, with renowned entities like Will Yip’s Memory Music Studios, the live music streaming platform nugs.net, and influential radio programming like WXPN’s World Cafe.

Seltzer envisions Inside Hustle as “a kind of all-in Philly music conference” that he foresees becoming “an annual coming together of the entire Philly music industry.”

And along with the music business, of course, the PMF is about the live music experience. Here are my PMF picks not to miss.

Gregory Alan Isakov

Indie folk songwriter Isakov’s Philly-ness isn’t well known — he was born in South Africa and lives in Colorado. His patient, understated songs have a spaciousness suitable to his Rocky Mountain milieu. But he grew up and first started playing in bands here, and in Ardmore, he’ll be in much cozier environs than he is accustomed to. Monday, Oct. 12, and Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Ardmore Music Hall.

Madi Diaz

Madi Diaz grew up in Lancaster and has the resumé of a successful Nashville songwriter. She’s co-written hits for Kesha and Maren Morris, duetted with Kacey Musgraves on “Don’t Do Me Good” on her Grammy-nominated 2024 album "Weird Faith." She has also opened for Harry Styles and played in his touring band. And along with her own most-recent album, "Fatal Optimist," she released a full-length cover album of Blink 182’s "Enema of the State" last year to raise money for a legal aid fund that assists immigrant communities. Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Ardmore Music Hall.

Dillinger Escape Plan

In 2025, the PMF made its first foray into metal, and in 2026, the fest is back for more with math and metalcore quintet Dillinger Escape Plan. The band, originally from Morris Plains, New Jersey, split up after 2016’s "Dissociation," and reunited in 2024 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its 1999 debut, "Calculating Infinity." The PMF show with Pyrron and Caged opening is one of a handful of dates as that reunion draws to a close. Thursday, Oct. 15, at Underground Arts.

RJD2

RJD2 is the formerly Philly-based DJ, producer, and multi-instrumentalist born Ramble Jon Krohn, who makes electronic and full-band music across many solo and collaborative projects. You might not think you know his music but you probably do. In 2006, “A Beautiful Mine” — an instrumental track drawn from "Magnificent City," his collaborative album with rapper Aceyalone — was adapted as the opening theme to "Mad Men." Thursday, Oct. 15, at Milkboy Philly.

Sweet Pill

Hard-hitting Philly pop-punk band Sweet Pill is led by singer Zayna Yousseff and guitarist Jayce Williams, two native New Jerseyans who formed the band while students at Rowan University in 2018. The band finds its sweet spot with "Still There’s a Glow," its sophomore release, which came out in March. Friday, Oct. 16, at Underground Arts.

The Flying Vees

It’s a been a good year for the women of the Flying Vees. Hannah Taylor, Shannon Vasile, Brechyn Chace, and Caitlin Ramsey wrote “Workmans Song” for WXPN-FM’s 24 Hour Song Challenge, and took home first prize for the tune about how freedom isn’t always so easily appreciated by working people struggling to make ends meet. They played XPoNential Music Festival last month and the band is on a rock-solid bill with Owen Stewart, Roberta Faceplant, Sug Daniels, and Nik Greeley & the Operators. Friday, Oct. 16, at the Faller Club.

Wax Jaw

Philly quintet Wax Jaw makes music with manic energy and razor sharp hooks, pulling from early punk and New Wave. "It Takes Guts!," the band’s debut on Philly’s Born Losers Records, is a ripping, fun-filled affair that gets serious as singer Shane Morgan writes about life in America as a transmasculine person. On a terrific bill with Sweet Pill, Remember Sports, and Midfield. Friday, Oct. 16, at Underground Arts.

Marietta

It seems like Philly emo bands come, go, and then decide to come back again. Like the Wonder Years and Algernon Cadwallader, Marietta followed a flurry of early activity, with its debut album, "Summer Death," in 2013 and its follow-up, "As It Were," two years later, and then a long period of inactivity. The band has been back in action since reuniting a year ago at the Ukie Club, and is topping this bill that also features Euphoria Again, Bleary Eye, and Máty. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Underground Arts.

Immanuel Wilkins

This year, the PMF booked a genius. Upper Darby-raised saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins is the youngest of 20 winners in this year’s class of MacArthur Foundation’s genius grants. Wilkins put on a scintillating performance with his quartet plus special guests William Parker and Jeff “Tain” Watts during Ars Nova Workshop’s Coltrane 100 festival last month. Sunday, Oct. 18, at Solar Myth.

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Inside Hustle is free and will be held at the URBN Center, 3501 Market St., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 10. Philly Music Fest runs Oct. 13-18. Tickets sold separately for each showcase. phillymusicfest.com

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