Even with the plethora of bands that fills different Big Ten music scenes, venue owners in those towns believe that college students' interest in live music is on the decline.

Nicholas Vukas is a bar owner who is frustrated and disappointed with the music scene in West Lafayette, Ind., home of Purdue University.

Vukas has owned Nick's Nightclub and Bar in West Lafayette since 1979 and owned a bar, Jake's, in Bloomington, Ind., from 1980 until 1990. But when the Boilermakers were in the NCAA Tournament in 1991, there was less of a turnout at his bar to watch the game than there would be at any Hoosiers game, Vukas said.

"(West Lafayette is) terrible," Vukas said gravely. "It's one of the worst markets in a major college atmosphere I've ever seen in my life."

Where Bloomington has built a national reputation for its music scene, Vukas said the support for live entertainment in West Lafayette is nonexistent.

As a result, West Lafayette musicians are finding themselves taking to the road because of the lack of venues. It's hard for musicians to survive in West Lafayette, even though the town centers around a university, said Shawny Anderson, vocalist for Ice Makers of the Revolution.

"It stinks, it's very sad," Anderson said. "A university, I think, is supposed to be a very creative environment."

Nick's doesn't even get one-third of the response that Jake's in Bloomington got -- Jake's was always packed, but Vukas said he is lucky to get a crowd of 100 in West Lafayette.

But one reason Nick's doesn't get much of a turnout is because the bar is far from campus, said Purdue student Sarah Tukos.

"You gotta find somebody to drive all the way down there," Tukos said. "It's a pain and they've never had anything that that great."

Like Vukas, bar owners in Big Ten towns are becoming increasingly disgruntled about the music scenes that cater to college students.

Booking agents in Bloomington find venue problems in the town that Vukas finds so enviable. Although the Bloomington scene has never been stronger, a large part of the scene's success may come from greed, said Lee Williams, booking agent for Bloomington's Second Story club.

"The problems with some owners of two of the biggest clubs is that they're just in it for the money," Williams said.

Instead of taking chances with new acts, owners rely on the bands that promise to bring in students and their money, he added.

But in other college towns, a lack of money is the problem. In Ann Arbor, Mich., bar owners have noticed that University of Michigan students have less money than in previous semesters.

This may be due in part to the decline in Detroit's auto industry in the 1980s, said Todd Headricks, manager of the Ann Arbor club Blind Pig.

"The Ann Arbor scene now today isn't as popular as it was 10, 12 years ago," Headricks said, adding that a lot of Ann Arbor bands are also disgruntled. "Ann Arbor isn't a magnet as it used to be."

East Lansing, Mich., has more of a music scene for Michigan State University students than Ann Arbor, but there's not much variety as far as bands and venues go, said Joe Goodsir, owner of East Lansing's Rick's. The market is getting saturated because a lot of venue owners are doing the same thing, Goodsir said.

Few venue owners are happy with the way their towns' college music scenes are progressing. But what would seem like competition from neighboring college towns such as Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Mich., and Kalamazoo, Mich., actually helps out some East Lansing clubs, said Vaughn Schneider, owner of East Lansing's Small Planet Food and Spirits.

"It's a help for us because we draw from some of the bands in those towns," Schneider said.

Venue owners said they have done all they can to make music accessible to college students. The next step in encouraging local music scenes is up to the students, Vukas said.

"The people in this market need to be spoon-fed," he said. "It's very disappointing for me after all these years."