I love the idea of a well paid branch of the civil service doing folk clubs, Al:-) Trouble is, it already in the private sector and whatever you think of them folk clubs are run and funded by individuals, not public bodies. They are goverened by either the people that 'own' them - probably the ones which you describe in scenario 1 or by market forces which means that they will only book people who put bums on seats. Either way some people will never get booked until the government start to subsidise them!

Richard, when you were defending the right of the less than perfect to sing did you ever defend the right of the organiser to put on whoever they wanted, or the right of the audience to expect good quality music? Did you also defend the right of the smoker to smoke? In the other discussions not one single person, to my knowledge, ever said that people do not have the right to sing. The majority did say that no performer should not expect to be able to perform wherever and whenever they like.

Cheers

DeG