I recently came across a posting on a music mailing list in which someone was venting about the apparent apathy of indie music people. Many people aren't even aware of these traits in themselves.
People naturally do take the easy road and think primarily of themselves.
That not only includes indie musicians and small label people, it also includes music industry bigshots and media people of all kinds. We can bitch about the sorry state of human beings or we can learn to work with it. Like many indie media people, I was overworked and underpaid. Far too many bands sent out sloppy packages without focus and then expected me to do all the work to give them exposure. It's no different with your fans and people in other areas of the music biz.