No...I never did "pay for play", but I do know a lot who did.
I only played a handful of clubs back in the day that had 2 or 3 bands per night...and even then we got paid.
( cue 'authoritative grandfather voice') Why, you young whippersnappers don't know this, but "back in MY day" clubs were packed and bands were busting their butts to get good enough to be worthy of a booking. Then you'd play to a full house, build your following, get offers from other clubs...agents were always prowling around looking for great acts...and it just went from there. BUT you had to be GOOD! And ENTERTAINING!
(I actually used that as a stepping stone so that when I started doing my original stuff, I made a smooth transition from specialty-cover band to all-original band with a decent draw).
Then things changed. (disco, MADD, changing social values, punk rock, new wave, grunge, karaoke, DJ's, etc)
Club owners brought in ANY band that could guarantee a draw, regardless of how good (or bad) they were. Problem is ANY band could bring in 40 friends to see them...ONCE! LOL! Over time, the bands would bring their friends, drive out the regulars, then the second time in that band would draw maybe HALF...a downward spiral that eventually led to "pay for play"...with some exceptions.
And where a band used to be able to hold a weekly residency, say, every Wednesday night, where they would introduce new stuff and see how it goes over, or see how it feels in a live setting and fine-tune it to perfection...it's now "karaoke night" or "trivia night".
There are still a few hold-outs around. Clubs where they'd rather have live entertainment. If you're not well-known, you might have to go in once or twice at a reduced rate and earn your way to a better rate. But NEVER for free!
AND THERE'S NOTHING MORE FUN THAN PLAYING WITH MUSICIANS YOU LIKE IN FRONT OF A CROWD, AND GETTING PAID FOR IT!!!
But, again, back in the day, the bands that excelled weren't just bands...they were entertainment! They got the place jumpin'!
And you NEVER wore your street clothes onstage!
Yeah, I'm a dinosaur, stuck in my old-school ways. But it STILL works for me!
YMMV!