Capt. Scott wrote:
I hate to say it, but in this day and age, if you get paid a huge amount of $ to play, even if you suck, you are a pro. (If you sucked that night, they chalk it up to little more than that, a bad night)
It depends which circuit you are focusing on.
If you work as a studio or session musician, you have to nail the material that is given to you the first time. No one will hire you if you have to go over 100 takes and 3 hours to get one thing right. (Current standard rates in Chicago are $300 for a one hour block using a studio musician.)
Think of it as building a portfolio and gathering props where you get another good paying gig through clients.
You must be talking about the shitty corporate rock being poured out in the mainstream where it's all about emo hair and boys wearing girls pants from Hot Topic... all image.
The funny thing, they hire real pros to make the crappy music sound decent.