I don’t actually know anything about where bands are supposed to find an audience, but I don’t think bands who haven’t found an audience should expect to get paid, the same way I don’t expect to get paid for going to a job interview or engaging in a hobby. If a band doesn’t have an audience they can reliably entertain, what they’re doing is self promotion for their own benefit, not entertainment for the benefit of an audience.
I don’t actually know anything about where bands are supposed to find an audience, but I don’t think bands who haven’t found an audience should expect to get paid, the same way I don’t expect to get paid for going to a job interview or engaging in a hobby. If a band doesn’t have an audience they can reliably entertain, what they’re doing is self promotion for their own benefit, not entertainment for the benefit of an audience.