As GUEST says - there are all sorts, good and bad.

However 666 raises an interesting one about those sessions where one person gets paid & the rest turn up and play.

There is a local who runs a bunch of these. Said organiser is a bit variable in quality themself & is generally ratted and incompetent by the end of the night. Said organiser is paid, but the participants get nothing other than the chance to perform a couple of songs/tunes. The sessions are open to all and can include anything from the sublime to the rediculous. The customers in the bars are largely uninterested in folk & probably just want to get on with their drinking & chatting.

If said org did not get paid, then presumably they would not do the organising, and then maybe we'd have nowhere to go and perform. But on the other hand, perhaps if said org had not cornered the market then other things might spring up. I am not sure whether:
a) Said org is making money from our talents & is exploiting us
b) We are fools for going along with it & it serves us right
c) We are talentless ego-trippers making fools of ourselves in front of unwilling audiences.
or
d) Its nice to have somewhere to go and perform, so everything is perfectly fine.

What do you reckon 'catters?