I think Bob is touching on something that is very important here.....the word “work.”
For many folks, playing in a band is their “work.” It’s a job. It’s employment. It’s the way they make money. In that scenario, I agree that they should be paid for working, just like any other form of employment.
For other folks (like me for example), playing in a band is purely a fun thing to do as a hobby. It’s not their “work”, it’s not a job, it’s not employment, and it’s not their way of making money. And it is NEVER viewed as work. It’s viewed as a playful thing to do in their spare time. They do it purely for the love of playing music, and they have no interest in getting paid for enjoying their hobby. Certainly, schlepping the gear is not the most enjoyable part of the hobby, and some folks feel that the schlep constitutes work and therefore they should get paid. But there are other folks (like me) who consider the schlep just part of the hobby because it results in the joy of playing music in a band, and therefore they don’t care about the schlep.
So for some of us, playing music is “work”, and for some of us, playing music is the polar opposite of “work.”
Some of the posts in this thread hit on the brutal (and perhaps not very nice sounding) truth that if a gigging band (that relies on band income) feels threatened by those who play for free, then those gigging bands need to up their game to increase their attractiveness to venue owners. The other brutal (and perhaps not very nice sounding) truth that has been stated elsewhere in this thread is, if making money is the goal, then the self-responsibility of career choice decision making has to be considered.
Regardless of what is stated in this thread or any other thread, I know one thing is true: I will continue to do what I have done for the past 35 years, which is, play music purely for the joy of it because this hobby makes me happy, and I will never care about getting paid to enjoy my hobby. I would NEVER want playing music to turn into work! Eww!!! I guess, in some eyes, that makes me an idiotic slut!And that’s okay with me, because at least I’m a *happy* idiotic slut!
Sacto pretty well describes it. The core of it is that music is not like any other business or profession. You'll not see anyone going out and hanging drywall or doing other people's taxes just for the pure joy of doing it. Many folks play music for the fun of it and will do it without regard to making any money. In that environment, thinking you have a right to get paid for playing, is entitlement. It goes against reality, especially if you don't do anything to distinguish yourself from the play for free crowd.
