Should You EVER Work For Free?

Every single person working in music right now has been asked to work for free at some point in their career. Most are asked to work without pay regularly, especially if they're a musician, and many take low-to-no pay gigs because they believe such opportunities will lead to brighter days down the road.

But does it pay to work for free? In certain cases, yes.

[Chronade]

Thank you for educating us again. Thank you for helping my destiny. I've performed a couple of times in a local Tavern, the payment was a free drink, any of my choice, I always chose lemon-lime bitters! Because of you, I'm inspired! 💛💛💛

[xandermoon]

I have a question towards artist selection. What i mean by that is: how do record label chose their artists?
Because I personally feel like that the music industry is doing so much to promote puppets, who last a few years and then you don´t hear anything anymore from them, at least thats how I see it sometimes... (idk if I´m correct of course)
But if I am correct; why is that so and why is it always about the latest trend, even if the quality or the niveau of the music is not very high.