Are we in the wrong pub? Perhaps, but finding suitable premises isn't as easy as you seem to think.

Many pub landlords still take the view that the pub should provide a facility to the community, which is why they provide dartboards, hold quiz nights and in some cases allow music. Sometimes these activities will attract customers and sell more beer, but not always.

My local session was very quiet last week - only half a dozen musicians, each nursing our pint because we had to drive home afterwards. The other customers seem to enjoy it, but its doubtful whether we actually attracted customers, and we have to recognise the possibility that some may actually stay away if they don't like the music. I don't know whether the landlady made any profit out of the session after paying the PRS fee - it's probably marginal. She certainly doesn't see it as part of his commercial operation and I doubt the session makes any real difference to her in commercial terms.

It's this sort of informal, non-commercial music which is most threatened when the PRS comes storming in with an insensitive approach, but it's at the very heart of folk music.

In the other case I mentioned the landlord did make a small charge for the room as well as attracting extra customers for his beer. However the fee the PRS demanded was out of all proportion to the money he made from hosting the folk club. What really pissed him off was the PRS rep's attitude, and he was quite prepared to give up earning a few extra quid a week rather than submit to what he saw as bullying. We eventually resolved the issue and the club continued, but it was touch and go for a while.

I haven't been a member of the MU for many years, as I found that its activities weren't relevant to me, indeed completely failed to take account of the environment in which I was playing. I see that it now has a folk music section but the benefits of joining are still not clear to me. Perhaps that's another organisation which needs to do some PR.