Folkiedave

To at least answer in part why organisers do it - it means they can book the artists they like!!

Thank you, Dave. I was working towards saying something like that.

We book artists because we want to hear them and we hope our audiences do as well. We take no account of whether they are professors of sociology or refuse disposal operatives during the day or spend all their time practicing till their fingers turn green; it's what they do on stage that counts.

You can't steal the gigs from the pros because they don't belong to them. They belong to us and we provide them for free to whoever we choose.

As for "preferably with a guarantee, to keep the organisers on their toes"... Oh yes, it will do that. We'll lose money on you once if we like what you do or think you need some encouragement on the way up but if it happens twice, you can do it for the door or not at all.