Martin, you must mean all the instruments are owned by one or two players in the session and they only let you have a go if you play the tunes they want you to, and they charge all those listening, including players, for the privilege - sounds rubbish.

Give me the voluntary coming together of musicians and the co-operative production of tunes any day. Maybe someone gives the nod, maybe some leads more tunes than others, but it's not coercion, like the conductor of an orchestra. Yes, we have our differences (e.g. bodhran players who can't keep time) but we mostly sort them out amongst ourselves. People do this across the world as well as their jobs. IMHO, it's one-in-the-eye for those who say that humans are by nature selfish, greedy and competitive and those who say that some are born to lead and some born to follow.