Those who make money OUT of you, know that you LOVE to play, anywhere, anytime, to share your music and thus, you have been exploited, for centuries, really.

In all seriousness, the only times I've ever felt I was being exploited was when I was playing for money and getting bookings through an agent. If you really want to put your finger on the people with real for-profit motives, then take a long, hard look at agents. I'm certainly not saying that all agents are the same, but many of the ones I've had the displeasure of working with over the years have been either useless or callous. I played for a 1950s-style rock'n roll band for many years and, for much of the time, that stuff was in fashion. Work was plentiful - British Legions, Working Men's Clubs, Trades & Labour, etc. When it went out of fashion, our agent kept booking us into functions looking for '60s bands - Beatles covers, Stones covers, etc. - which we didn't do. So we started turning up at these gigs, not realising that we'd booked in for something that wasn't our style, and felt the fury of the punters who were paying good money but not getting what they'd paid for.

The other useless agents are those who call you up - I had one only recently - saying they'd like to give a quotation, urgently (naturally) for a prospective client, demanding photographs, repertoire, etc., instantly. Of course, they've also emailed half the similar bands in the area and, if you ask them for an outcome to their "urgent" request, they can't be arsed to reply. I tell 'em to shove off these days - politely, of course.

We get our current work from our website and - most importantly - by word of mouth. And, yes, we do the occasional gig for charities and friends - at a special "mates' rate".

And, once a month, we host a session in a local pub and invite all and everyone to play with us.