'Great exposure'...

 First poster image idea.

Before I headed off to the Montargis BD festival (more on that later), I was asked if I could do the poster art  for 2 (currently hot) American bands starting joint tour in America. The label wanted me to come up with some artwork and the bands are pretty good so of course I wanted to do it.
But the dreaded words were soon to follow...
"There is no budget so we are looking for someone who would be down to do it for the exposure and for fun."
I put my case forward that I could reluctantly work for a stupidly small fee but out of principle not for nothing. (I could write to my electricity supplier and ask them to skip my next bill because I'd like to do a job for fun.)
After the brisk initial discussions I emailed my suggested fee and headed off to the festival for 3 days.
Upon returning, all my messages receive no further replies. I dared ask for money so I now get the cold shoulder.

 

First poster idea in colour. As far as I got.

I could be wrong but I was under the impression that the work I was going to produce was to be used to generate interest in the tour. This would hopefully result in people becoming interested in the shows resulting in the record label/promoter making money. So I am essentially the tool to generate more money. Yet, as an mere illustrator, I deserve no money for generating money for their pockets.
Please, for anyone out there drawing for free, whether you are just starting out, studying or trying to build a portfolio please stop working for free because you are screwing everyone else over and killing the industry which you one day want to live off.

P.S. I would love to do so many more gig posters but this is too common an occurrence when dealing with record labels.