Firstly, let me say that I don't see the relevance of the TV licence analogy quoted by Elizabeth. The PRS exists to collect fees that are due in law on the performance of specific songs for which the rights are owned by their members. The PRS does not have any legal basis to collect fees on songs which are not subject to copyright.

The TV Licence simply allows the reception of broadcast signals - do the PRS want a licence for the reception of sound by the ears?

The real issue as I see it is that publicans are already under financial pressure from other directions (e.g. PEL) and are very likely to stop hosting live music completely - some already have.

Folk clubs in my experience (even dating back to the boom of the 1960's) were not a great money-mker for the pub, and costs have increased substantially since then.

The list of top names who started in folk clubs has been discussed here before, and killing the clubs will no doubt have a long-term effect on the whole music industry.

I do not see any reason why the PRS could not create a new category, for genuine clubs, with a reduced fee which would recognise the element of public domain content usually present and would be affordable. But of course, that is up to them.

Too many golden geese have already been killed, but 'Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone', in the (copyright) words of the song.