It's very useful for a session musician. You could pick up a song without hunting for the key.
When I went to my parent's church, the organist would spot me and then immediately transpose the organ down a half step. Nobody noticed in the entire room except for me -- I couldn't sing any hymns because the notes didn't match what was on the sheet. It was his private prank just between us two, and he knew that I was the only other person in the room who knew what he had done to me.
In this video you can see an example of how it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF4onowI1xw
[1]: https://pt-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Harpa_Crist%C...
A cute (translated) comment from the video: “To sing with this guitarist is easy! Just praise the Lord and he does the rest!”