Actually, I do primarily listen to people who have never made a living out of their compositions. Most of what I listen to is niche electronic music including 8-bit "chiptunes" and demo-scene music which does not exactly do well commercially. Some of them do make a little bit of money from music, but frankly most of these musicians can't even cover the cost of their equipment from their sales.
Sure, I knew people in college who were part of the local music scene and listened to it primarily.
I don't see why it is so surprising. People choose genres and primarily listen to it all the time. The kind of music popular to make in your locality, is definitely not the same genre that's played nationwide no matter how close the similarities may be.
