Musicians are known for being asked to do work for free—possibly more than any other profession I’ve ever encountered.

For some reason—maybe because it’s intangible—people feel as though they shouldn’t have to pay for most things musically related. 

Maybe some of the blame could be put on the radio or Spotify, both of which have led to the idea that music is free (it isn’t). 

But this is especially true when it comes to paying for real musicians to play at events. 

In one recent instance I know of, a musician was hired to play at a wedding. But after getting the deposit and preparing for the service, this person was asked to create a personal recording of a specific song for the newly engaged couple. 

And they expected it for free.

Nowhere in the contract was that stipulated, and any sort of personalized experience of any kind costs money (think photography, art, software, or consulting service).

But they expected a freebie. 

This is a problem for a number of reasons: one of which, it isn’t as simple as turning on your iPhone camera and playing for 3 minutes. It takes a lot more time, work, and equipment to do that right. 

For another reason, there have been way too many instances where people have taken a recording from someone’s social media page or YouTube channel and played it over a speaker. Without the musician’s permission and without paying. 

In a number of instances I know of, they canceled the musicians and used the recorded music instead.

This is something that’s just not done. 

You also don’t expect a photographer to work your wedding for free. And if you want a sample, what do you do? You go to their social media page. It’s always there and always free. 

You also don’t ask potential employees to do a project for free before you decide whether or not to hire them. Give them a spec project, sure. But pay for the work. 

Imagine you were walking through an open food market. Would you walk up to a fruit vendor and demand to eat an entire apple for free to determine whether or not you wanted to buy a bushel from the stand? 

Absolutely not. You’d expect to pay for each piece of fruit consumed. 

So what to do about these expectations of free? The solution, I’ve found, is simple: 

1. ALWAYS charge for what you charge for
2. ALWAYS give away for free what you give away for free

And NEVER compromise on either. 

If you want free music, check out the artist’s Spotify channel, their YouTube videos, or their social media pages. You’ll find all sorts of free music there. And it’s ALWAYS free.

But if you want something personal and specific to you, that costs money—ALWAYS.

If you want free marketing advice from me, check out my blog, There are hundreds of articles to help you. 

But if you want a consultation or some copy written, that’s gonna cost you money. 

If you want a free email marketing service, sign up for HubSpot Free. You get everything you need to start building an email list. But know you only have a 500 subscriber limit before they start charging you massive amounts of money.

If you want free, you get the same generic, free stuff everyone else does. But if you want personalized, custom, special experiences, you’ve gotta pay for it. 

Accept this as the reality of a free market.

And for God’s sake — stop asking musicians to play for free! You don’t ask it of any other profession. Why do you still do it with musicians?