I should look into this, eventually. I'm currently in school, though. I probably don't have the resources (time or money) to spend on this yet.
As far as connections, it's been my experience that no one takes you seriously when you're relatively young, have little actual experience, and don't have references or some other way to say, "Hey, I know what I'm doing." Nonetheless, I'm willing to try.
IME, you're right. I've been a lawyer 10 years (damn, where did the years go?) and my grandparent STILL won't take my legal advice about getting a (non-relative) lawyer to do their wills, nor will they listen to my Dad's (their son) medical advice...and he's been an MD for 34 years or so.
However, let me say this cliche: think outside of the box.
I just got my MBA last August, and I was part of a team that did a big presentation to the University of Dallas as part of our final grade- and make no mistake, this was a
real $100k+ project we pitched. To jazz up our Powerpoint presentation, we had our team leader's son lay down some jazz, rock and technopop tracks for our use.
The point? If you're a student, you're probably around a lot of people- students AND faculty- who want nifty unique music for a variety of reasons, and there's no reason you can't supply it.
Consider this example: there are several software programs out there (available to the public, and starting right around $100 as I recall) that let you turn digital music files into ringtones. Buy one, use it on one of your original compositions, and put it on your phone. Tell your family and friends and other people you did this. If they ask- and some will- offer to make them a custom ringtone for a buck. While other people will be working as tutors, you'll have a cottage industry in your dorm room.
One of my college mentors had a biannual production called The Lennox Lecture- a multimedia production that was a presentation about an issue in philosophy. I was part of the production team, and we used samples of prerecorded music and sound effects.
Were he still doing it today, I'd suggest he use original compositions from the student body or local bands, record the sucker (the music, at least) and sell the CDs and DVDs (with every musical contributor getting a little royalty check).
And whatever campus you're on, some professor somewhere is doing something similar...