Guys, there's a substantial difference between playing covers and playing originals. There always has been, and always will be, a pretty good market for performing covers, assuming you follow the very good advice given by Graham and Bob.

Having a career based on original material, which is what the OP was asking about, is a lot tougher nut to crack. As saturated as the market is with cover bands/musicians, it is exponentially worse with bands/artists trying to break through with original material. Part of the problem with trying to monetize that is that you have to compete & deal with the knuckle-dragging mouth breathers who gleefully play for free, being conned into believing it's "good exposure."

Well, people die from exposure. And while you're up there trying to grab an indifferent audience's attention with your music, the club owners are selling drinks and raking in the money. This type of garbage is rampant in the area where I live - it pays off for literally no one, and yet the young & naive flock to these exploitative venues, willing to give away their talent for nothing more than empty promises and false hope that they might be "discovered".

I always ask aspiring musicians/songwriters this rhetorical question - if something can be had for free, what value does it have? The answer is nothing. Free has no value. I would encourage everyone to never allow yourself to be used & taken advantage of by greedy, selfish people.

I'll bet a lot of us on here have played weddings at some point....I've sure played my fair share of them. How many times have you seen a family spend literally thousands of $$, sometimes $10-15k or more, on a wedding - flowers, venue, catering, etc. - and yet when the band wants $500 for playing 5 hours, there is wailing and gnashing of teeth as though somehow you're gouging them. Happens all the time - because far too many musicians/bands are willing to compromise on the value of their talent.

Don't. What you do has value. Demand fair compensation for your work and talent, and don't compromise.

http://www.rogerbrownsongs.com
http://www.nashvillesongwriters.com/roger-brown