After the Music Degree, Before the Breakthrough: One Nonprofit's Story Toward Collaboration
- Mar 10
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 16
If you want to achieve your dreams, you have to learn to lean on each other.
For emerging artists, that stretch between ambition and achievement can become a psychological bog. It’s a place where comparison thrives, isolation deepens, and every unanswered message starts to feel personal. Maybe you even did everything “right.” You went to a top school. You studied hard. You chased the opportunity. Yet the path forward feels unclear, quiet, and emotionally heavy.
In the music world where careers feel simultaneously competitive and chaotic, that limbo can be especially lonely.
It was this experience that inspired The FAM, a nonprofit music community founded nearly a decade ago by USC alumnus Aaron Russ. What began as a class project eventually grew into a mission-driven effort to not only build connections, but to reshape how emerging creatives navigate the industry.
“We are working to break down the unhealthy competitive barriers of the music industry in a way that feels human, in a way that changes the conversation and the internal monologue of, ‘What’s in it for me?’ to ‘What can I do to support you?’ or ‘How can we support each other?’”
Aaron started The FAM while he was still a student at USC enrolled in business and double-minoring in music industry and songwriting. At that point, even in one of the nation’s most connected environments, Los Angeles, he found himself struggling to get internships, meet the right people, and turn ambition into tangible momentum.
“If I’m having this much trouble,” Aaron asked,
“how much harder is it for everyone else?”
That question set the foundation for The FAM’s mission: to make the music industry more accessible, more collaborative, and more mentally healthy.
Their events go beyond panels and mixers. The FAM aims to facilitate honest conversations, introduce artists to real opportunities, and replace knee-jerk competitiveness with a culture of support.
For Aaron, the journey started personally.“Rather than seeing my peers as competition, you know, I started to see my peers as potential collaborators. So I think I really set out to break down those unhealthy competitive barriers to, you know, share resources and share opportunities and share gigs and share even, you know, relationships. Making introductions and playing matchmaker.”
Although the FAM’s community started in school, it has aged with Aaron. Now it reflects a broader truth about modern creative careers: The transition out of school often feels like stepping off a cliff.
Aaron describes a cycle many artists know too well. The confusion of “What do I do next?” mixed with the internal pressure to already be doing it. Whether you’re 22 trying to turn class projects into gigs or 26 dissecting what your creative life “should” actually look like, there’s a shared complexity going unspoken.
For many, that complexity shows up as anxiety and isolation. Not because music is too hard, but because the industry has no clear roadmap, and the emotional effects of that gap go largely unaddressed.
That’s where community becomes more than a tool. It becomes the backbone of every artist’s success. For Aaron, hosting events is about more than just facilitating introductions. They’re about creating moments for artists to feel seen, heard, and encouraged.
Whether it’s a small gathering or a crowded festival, The FAM creates intentional spaces. They remind artists that their experience is not solitary, and that others are facing the same questions, uncertainties, and need for meaningful connection.
That’s the subtle power in collaboration. It doesn’t just build networks, it builds individual confidence.
As The FAM evolved, so did its understanding of what support actually means for artists. The community started amplifying resources around mental health. Not as an optional add-on, but as a core piece of artistic longevity.
One standout example they support is Backline, a mental health organization specifically focused on the music community. In collaboration with Spotify, Backline recently launched a new 24/7 mental health hotline for musicians, accessible by phone and text, modeled on traditional crisis lines like 988, but tailored to the unique pressures of creative careers.
Get real support from trained crisis counselors
who understand life pressures around music.
Call 855-BLINE99 or text 254-639 anytime.
This resource is a major milestone in artist mental health support. It’s a formal recognition that the industry’s emotional challenges are real, widespread, and deserving of professional infrastructure. Aaron sees the Backline as a complement to The FAM and a great bridge to clinical help when it’s most needed.
The FAM reflects a larger shift in how artists and creatives are navigating early career stages. Instead of isolating ambition and guarding opportunities as competitive advantage, communities like The FAM make space for reciprocity, vulnerability, and collective momentum.
As The FAM continues to grow hosting more events, deepening conversations, and widening its reach, its core message remains simple, but powerful: Break down the unhealthy and negative stereotypes of the music industry, and perpetuate the healthy ones.
If you’re an artist, creative, or music professional navigating your own version of post-college limbo, consider getting involved with The FAM. Volunteer at an upcoming event. Help create the kind of spaces you needed or in many cases still need. Join the community not simply to network, but to contribute to a culture rooted in collaboration over competition.
Interested in joining The FAM?
“Whether you are in LA or New York and you just want to support and you want to learn and you want to meet people and you want to put something on your resume or talk about it in an interview, you know, we really work to create symbiotic relationships.”
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