Despite the overwhelming amount of money the music industry throws at college radio, it is the only market for independents to have a chance to break through. An indie band, can record, manufacture and distribute their CD’s to college radio, and have as good a chance of breaking through as a major label project.

College programmers differ widely from their commercial counterparts. College programmers play music because they like it, not because it’s something they are told, or otherwise encouraged to play. College MD’s will sift through up to 250 new CD’s each and every week, but somehow they find the best songs to add to their rotations. However, with hundreds of college stations in North America, each station with their own music staff, and their own musical tastes, it is hard to determine what’s "alternative" anymore.

Which brings us to the crux of the music industry’s main problem. Mediocrity and Apathy. The industry keeps putting out tons of average records by average artists, and the consumer just doesn’t care anymore. It’s not just that the industry puts out average music, but it puts out too much average music. By the time a band establishes themselves with some kind of a track record, the label pulls the plug, the band breaks up, end of story. The industry isn’t developing their artists the way they did in the ‘60’s, ‘70’s and ‘80’s. Rather than putting money behind one artist, developing them slowly and methodically over a period of two or three albums, the labels put out twenty albums, then they start throwing money at the one that sells the most.

But it’s not just the music industry’s fault. Consumers are bored. They constantly want new things to entertain their mundane lives. In order to develop one artist these days, you must put out new product constantly. It takes putting out new albums each and every year, if not every 9 months. It takes constant touring and promotional appearances. It takes videos and television and film soundtracks to truly develop artists in this market environment. But the end result of long term development is establishing an artist as a franchise, rather than creating one hit wonders, with a limited shelf life.

Consumers are also fickle. Musical tastes change constantly, and as music continues to evolve, consumers evolve too. What may have been hip just last year, is old and boring now. Thus bands, and labels, must constantly struggle to find that "new sound", in order to get attention.

The driving force behind alternative music, and popular music for that matter, are kids aged 12-22. These are the kids that bug their parents for the new Hanson or Spice Girls album. These are the kids that would endure any type of punishment, than to have their parents take their music away. These are the kids that have been weaned on MTV’s and VCR’s. And these are the kids that are bored shitless from crap that the Music Industry has been putting out lately.

Mediocre music, compared to the exciting, interactive technology that CD ROM’s and the Internet have to offer, is luring music consumers away by the millions. As more and more homes add computers to their entertainment centers and home offices, passive music listening will slowly become a thing of the past. As modem speeds increase, web content providers will slowly add more video and audio content with higher quality. Manufacturing "audio-only" CD product will eventually become completely unnecessary.

Although it has not been declared, nor is some evil conspiracy behind it, the Music Industry is fighting a war of attrition. There will be many casualties, particularly, Indie Labels and Distributors, that cannot sell product, or get paid by bankrupt retailers. Major Labels will cut superfluous managers and reps, and stop spending money on independent promotion and publicity. Labels will also cut advertising budgets, which will affect everyone from the Alternative Press to Z-TV. Which will hurt the musicians, both signed and unsigned, as rosters will be cut, and only a few select songwriters and singers getting a second look.

But this is what needs to happen. The Majors need to cut back on their extravagance and waste. They need to go back to earlier days, when artists were developed, not run through the mill. Hugely successful artists, from Aerosmith to Zeppelin, were developed slowly and methodically, album after album, tour after tour. These bands didn’t write one hit wonders. They produced albums of great music, that still get tons of airplay to this day. Albums like Pink Floyd’s "Dark Side Of The Moon" still sell thousands of records each year. And that was their 2nd release in 1973! But they were developed, over several albums, over several world wide tours, so that when that first album hit, it was big.

Labels don’t take that risk anymore. Yes, they sign a lot of bands, but they spend little money in development. If an album doesn’t get any attention beyond the minimal push from the field staff, it gets buried in favor of the next project. If it hits, it gets milked for everything it’s worth. But if the band doesn’t put out a better second album, it’s all over. Just look at Green Day. No development, just one hit, and you’re through. Is it any wonder that consumers are bored?