Interesting thread. On one hand music is a service, on the other it's also a calling. But you can't equate music with a service like an electrician or plumber. You call those people when you need them, and of course you're expected to pay them. No one "needs" music in that respect. It's an added nicety. I think music and other arts are necessary for the good of humanity (to speak in grandiose terms), but it's not valued as it should be in this culture.

I, and the couple of bands I've played in, have played for some decent money, and also for free. When offered a free gig I looked for an exchange of some sort of value. It could be a very appreciative audience, a good cause, but never to be treated like musical wall paper. When we've been offered wall paper gigs, we made sure we got paid very well. I did the low level day job for years to keep steady money coming in and maintained a good musical profile at the same time. I always found with music income that I either had a lot of money all coming in at once, or no money coming in at all. The joys of freelancing, I suppose.