The Real Cost of Playing for Free There is a phrase that almost every professional musician has heard at some point: “We don’t have a budget, but it will be great exposure.” Sometimes the request is made with the best intentions. A venue, charity, wedding supplier, community event or business may genuinely believe that asking a musician to perform for free costs the musician nothing. After all, they already own the instrument. They enjoy playing music. They might only be performing for an hour or two. So what does it really cost? The [...]