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Since I was mentioned, I feel I should explain a bit what Ferk quoted me saying since the paraphrasing was slightly misleading. While there are certainly different markets, my point was slightly broader and wasn't actually about accepting free jobs diluting the market for pros. As you say, pros aren't after free jobs so if anything it would be clearing the path a bit. What I take issue with is the principle of accepting free work as a norm. Whether or not you're in it as a profession does not absolve you of the minimal responsibility of maintaining the very basic notion that artists deserve to be compensated for their efforts because their work is no less valuable than anyone else's on such a production. For wannabe pros, it's a fine line and a trap. You think to yourself "ok I have to do some free gigs to get exposure and build my portfolio and reputation and then I will reach the magic line, cross it, and people will suddenly become inclined to pay me for my work." The good news is that the magic line actually exists. The bad news is that you're the one who's got to draw it, and decide when, and how. In my experience, an often-encountered proposal is something like this: "We can't pay you for this one but if we like your work, we'll come back to you when we have a paying project and then you'll get paid for sure!" Or the related but even more unlikely "We can't pay you up front, but you'll make plenty on the backend royalties and we'll give you your payment once we get paid." Sometimes you've got to take these jobs, for a variety of reasons, but don't be naive about it. Unless you're already a pro, chances are about 90% that the money you get up front is the only money you're ever going to see from the project, so make sure it's enough to make it worth your while. Which brings me back to working for free and what Ferk was saying about the distinction between markets. The unfortunate truth is that if you teach directors that you're willing and able to do great work for free, then they have no motivation to start paying you. You can expect them to become friendly and then it becomes a "buddy" thing and next thing you know, you're Sucker McFavour. You don't want to be that guy. At the end of the day if you don't respect your work enough to charge for the time it takes you to produce it, no one else is likely to. Today most young directors have very little understanding and very little respect for what composers do. I don't say that as a slight against them, but as a warning and a motivation to change it — a responsibility that falls largely on the shoulders of the young composers working for them. They're emerging in an age where it's all too easy to find dirt-cheap library tracks that are "good enough" and, worse, to find great music and steal it from the artists without the foggiest notion of it being a crime or at the very least hugely disrespectful. Copyright integrity aside, I think at the very least it's vital for these folks to be given some perspective on what goes into producing the music and why they should value it as much as any of the other aspects of their production. In Ferk's case (and others in similar positions) he does respect his work and he's choosing to offer his efforts as a charity. There's nothing wrong with that on the surface so long as he's satisfied and fulfilled by it; all I'm saying is that artists who are lending their talents to someone else (rather than just producing music for its own sake) need to be aware that their interactions and decisions are affecting the emerging generation of game designers, film directors, producers, etc. and that an awareness of that fact will hopefully motivate them to have some integrity — to not be afraid of saying no to ridiculous gigs, of explaining why they charge what they do, of standing by their rate (within reason, no need to be utterly obstinate), and to being as damn good as they can possibly be (musically and personally) so that every director they work with comes away from the experience thinking "man, I could never go with library tracks again." That, at least, is what I strive for, and whenever people ask me (which they frequently do) about these kinds of things, I tell them what I've just said above. Celebrating the synergy of creative collaboration between director and composer is a big priority of mine. Demonstrating the tangible difference between a library track that sort of fits the cut and a custom score that is MADE for it. I'll just end by quoting from a thing I wrote on my blog some time ago: