[Hillbilly hell]

I guess I shouldn’t complain to be asked to play these days however…….
The last two offers to play have been at bars selling booze n such but as my buddy put it it’s for bubba or stan or someone’s retirement or bday bash. Long and short it’s unpaid for the band. Free entertainment pro bono ! 
Do bands not get paid anymore or just my friends band doesn’t ?

[fulcrum]

For my part, I never budged unless there was money in it. I value my craft too much to just give it away at this point, unless I really like the people I'm jamming with. Those exceptions are vanishingly rare as compared to years ago when I was first learning stagecraft.

The situations where I might have taken a free gig in order to hang my keyboarding shingle out are even rarer these days: in these parts people do know me and know what I'm capable of, and they are willing to pay me accordingly to hump my gear in and out of the club and play in between — and in certain cases even do a rehearsal. Otherwise I'd do that if I knew there were someone playing with whom I wanted to have a closer business relationship.

Around the 203, and it might also be true elsewhere, your value comes from how much you're willing to charge for it. My somewhat cynical take on it is that if I play a gig like this for free, I'm not making any new connections and eventually people just start expecting that they don't have to pay me.

Maybe that's a little hard-assed, but till the pandemic hit I was making pretty good coin, which paid for the gas to and from and even put cigarette money in my pocket.

[Moonrider57]

I guess I shouldn’t complain to be asked to play these days however…….
The last two offers to play have been at bars selling booze n such but as my buddy put it it’s for bubba or stan or someone’s retirement or bday bash. Long and short it’s unpaid for the band. Free entertainment pro bono ! 
Do bands not get paid anymore or just my friends band doesn’t ?

Our band works on the principle stated by Lois McMaster Bujold:

"Never… ever suggest they don't have to pay you. What they pay for, they'll value. What they get for free, they'll take for granted, and then demand as a right. Hold them up for all the market will bear."

That said, we do one unpaid gig a year. It's a benefit show for a local musician who's having medical difficulties. The musician is selected by us as a band, the show is booked with fellow musicians with a connection to the recipient (chosen by us), and organized by us. All proceeds go to the musician, and the venue even chips in a percentage of bar/food sales.