Building Together: The Future of the Creative Scene Rests with Us

Like every city, Pittsburgh is filled with artists carrying aspirations of success and recognition on a higher level. But with today’s music industry oversaturated and costly, artists are often left navigating a maze of options, some that create opportunities, and others that turn the artist into the consumer. Funding is scarce, resources are scattered, and the road is rarely smooth. The life of a local artist is difficult, and true moments of gratification are few and far between.

I’ve often asked myself: How do we survive? How do we make it better? How do we create a world where artists can truly thrive?

To navigate this space, we must come together as creatives. We live in a time where most of us wear many hats, songwriter, producer, engineer, content creator, graphic designer, distributor, and more. The DIY journey forces us to develop multiple skills, but the real power comes when we pool those skills together.

Imagine a culture where instead of competing, we collaborated, where we leaned into each other’s strengths and filled in each other’s gaps. Collaboration, not isolation, sustains creativity. Building community is how we all rise.

We Need Infrastructure

This is the part many don’t want to hear. Most artists, me included, have egos. That ego drives us to dream big, to chase stardom, and to believe we can be more than the world expects of us. But ego can also hold us back. It convinces us we need to do everything alone and leaves us feeling undervalued when we don’t make the list, the playlist, the stage, or the spotlight.

We need to be honest with ourselves: What do we truly want? What do we truly need? How can we contribute to others in a way that raises everyone’s value, including our own?

We Need More Thought Leaders & Better Education

Scarce funding and unequal access, especially for minority musicians, make education one of the biggest barriers in our creative communities. Too many talented artists never get the chance to fully chase their dream simply because they don’t understand the business behind the music.

Learning how to structure projects, manage rights, understand sound, or grasp the science of production shouldn’t be luxuries, it should be accessible knowledge. Those of us fortunate enough to learn these lessons must pay it forward. We need mentors, educators, and leaders to pass this wisdom down. Our culture only survives if we prepare the next generation to navigate this world better than we did.

No matter where you are, breaking through in music today is as congested and confusing as ever. Technology is advancing, costs are rising, and many of us are forced into being jacks of all trades, masters of none.

But survival doesn’t come from going it alone, it comes from each other. Bartering, collaborating, mentoring, sharing knowledge, and embracing growth, that’s the way forward.

In the end, to be successful, we don’t just need talent.

We need each other.