A number of notable Portland musical acts have appeared on the PDX Pop Now! compilation or at the festival, including 50 Foot Wave, Alan Singley and Pants Machine, Blitzen Trapper, The Blow, The Decemberists, The Helio Sequence, Hockey (band), Lifesavas, M.Ward, Menomena, Mirah, Quasi, Sleater-Kinney, The Shins, The Shaky Hands, and The Thermals.
The CD release also contains a 32-page booklet which, in addition to liner notes and lyrics, also includes drawings and poems from Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu, Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls, Brent Knopf of Menomena and Ramona Falls, and Paul Heaton of The Housemartins and The Beautiful South, among others.