Meet Greg Seltzer

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Greg Seltzer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Greg, so happy to have you on the platform with us today and excited to chat about your lessons and insights. Our ability to make good decisions can massively impact our lives, careers and relationships and so it would be very helpful to hear about how you built your decision-making skills.

Decision making shapes execution. Decision making impacts every aspect and layer of an operation, of a mission and of a culture. Decision making is guided by judgment. Judgment, at least good judgment, is developed through study, skills and experience. Ultimately, though – decision making is dictated by purpose.

As the Founder and Executive Producer of Philly Music Fest, decisions range from financial to legal to music business to customer experience. I came to the role of Founder and Executive Producer of a music festival late in my professional career. I started my career as an accountant and CPA at a large accounting firm, then went to law school and now I’m a partner at a large law firm. Combining accounting and law has provided a foundation from which to ground decisions, but not dictate decision making. Similarly, through my legal career, I’ve represented music festivals, music producers, concert venues, record labels, professional athletes., celebrity chefs and restaurateurs – and these experiences are integral in guiding decision making, but don’t dictate decision making.

The most important aspect of decision making is to be true to a purpose. Philly Music Fest is a nonprofit focused on highlighting musicians, supporting independent venues and donating proceeds to music education programs. It’s that simple. Every decision, whether financial or legal, must align with the purpose of Philly Music Fest. So, the prompt is “How did you develop your decision making skills?” While some might say the answer is that I developed my decision making skills through 25 years of accounting, legal and music business experience – I suggest that my decision making skills are a product of purpose.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Tough question for a person and brand that strives to remain behind the curtain. In short, I’m a Philly kid, grew up in the area, went to Penn State, studied accounting, worked as a CPA at Ernst & Young, didn’t love it, went back to law school at night (Temple), started as a summer associate at a large national law firm, Ballard Spahr, in 2002 and have been a corporate lawyer for over 20 years, focused on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital transactions. Sound fun? Well, I like it and while a majority of my work is for technology and life sciences companies, I’ve been successful at incorporating clients in the music industry, my personal lane of passion.

I’ve handled transaction for and across from several of the largest players in the music business, including Live Nation, AEG, Red Light Management, the Newport Folk Festival, Playa Luna Presents, CID Entertainment, 100x Hospitality, William Morris, Vera Y Records (Jason Kelce), Wondery and several music venues and festivals. What I’ve learned is that most “entertainment lawyers” only know entertainment law and entertainment law concepts, and are therefore limited to entertainment law solutions. Clients in the music business are attracted to my skills because I consistently bring creative and unique solutions to arcane problems and transactions.

An ability to think differently led directly to Philly Music Fest, a nonprofit music festival that highlights Philly musicians, supports independent venues and recycles proceeds to music education programs for kids. Quite a different mode from the typical corporate festival, profit-motivated business model. Philly Music Fest isn’t massive, it’s intentionally hyper-local and DIY. Each year, we host seven consecutive nights at independent venues across Philadelphia, each show is distinct and embraces the idea that “Our Genre is Philly.” We feature a diverse array of Rock, Punk, Hip Hop, Americana, Jazz, Pop. Bluegrass and R&B. Philly Music Fest has an annual economic impact of at least $500,000. Philly Music Fest has no staff and absolutely minimal overhead, it’s a lean nonprofit that relies on my ability to sort accounting and legal, while focusing on the mission and purpose of Philly Music Fest – giving, not taking.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I’m 48, so excuse me if this sounds parental or old-ish, but I see a lot of young people demanding the achievement of their goals and vision in their twenties. Look, if making money is your goal, you can certainly achieve that in your twenties. Pick an industry that rewards with an exit transaction, build a company in that vertical and pray. But, if your vision and objective is larger – even undefined – I suggest navigating the world for a while. Try and be happy along the way, and make a change if you’re not happy, but aggregate skills and experiences, learn and keep learning. Then, when you see an opportunity and can visualize a path, not necessarily the consequence or end or product, when you see the path – activate and execute. I think you’ll find that several years of grinding, hustling and learning is what you’ll utilize and rely on to achieve success.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

Moreso than religion, laws, exercise, meditation, therapy or any other discipline or activity or practice, I believe in the power of music. I believe that music infiltrates every cell in the body. When overwhelmed, stressed or anxious, I rely on music. Sometimes, records that I’ve listened to for decades – my version of comfort food, if you will – like In A Silent Way or On The Beach or Soul Journey or The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (I could go on, but won’t), but also newly released music, as new music functions as a diversion, a mental exploration, a distraction. I find music no different than the above list of practices and tools for dealing with life and stress, but for me – music works, music is magic.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.phillymusicfest.com
• Instagram: @phillymusicfest
• Facebook: @phillymusicfest
• Linkedin: Gregory L. Seltzer
• Twitter: @PHLMUSICFEST
• Youtube: Philly Music Fest

Image Credits

Chris Sikich
Mark Franzen
Luda Ronky