Diane wrote: It's a business like any other.

In the last analysis (to coin a venerable Marxist phrase) of course it is. But (to coin a phrase of Bordieu, another Marxist) that doesn't stop it being a "taste culture" of some description, with forms of solidarity and shared meanings created among its consumers. Of whom I am one.

In much the same way that Coronation Street has been screened on a commercial TV channel for donkey's years, relying on advertising revenue for its continued existence. However, this doesn't stop Corrie fans (again, of whom I am one) bonding & creating shared meanings on the basis of their shared experience of watching Coronation Street.

In terms of being a performer, I'm fuck all in the crazy world of the folk industry. A few floor spots in clubs, being in a ceilidh band -- that's it. However, and for what it's worth, one of the things I relish about "the industry" is the leaky borders between producers (or artist as they might also be called) and consumers.