"one is that young performers are paid to run a guest booking folk club,"
Making money a factor in folk song is a nail in its coffin before it even begins feeling a little queasy
God protect Irish song from such a mercenary (from a professional singer).
Not to say that some people shouldn't make money from their work - just that it should never, ever be a guiding principle.
I really did think this died way back in the folk boom that gave us 'The Smothers Brothers at the Purple Onion'.
Jim Carroll