Jim C wrote (yesterday):
"If I have offended - sorry."

If you meant me, Jim, no, I wasn't offended. Just putting the artist's point of view. I happen to agree with both you and Marje that PRS has no business poking its nose into informal sessions and singarounds, and I've never claimed the 'small venue allowance' that was negotiated on our behalf a few years ago, lest I grass up some folk club that operates without a licence.

As far as my own income is concerned, the amount that I earn from royalties on festival appearances, specialist radio, etc., is pretty tiny. I do have some of my instrumental music used by a popular children's cartoon series, and this earns me considerably more than all those rare Child ballads and obscure Northern dance tunes that I've put in so much work on. As Dick says, every little helps when you're trying to sustain a career as a folk musician. Ewan MacColl, of course, did pretty well out of an original composition that made the crossover in to mainstream pop.