not my experience either.
one thing that has emptied clubs, are singers that are unpractised, and who talk through other singers performances, and who are not prepared to listen to practised performers, they prefer their singers clubs where sometimes the standard is incompetentand they appear to find companionship with other bad performers. This is regardless of whether the songs are folk pop or anything else.
the one thing that people are not prepared to pay for is bad performance regardless of material.
personally, i have no problem with people reading their lyrics if they have practised them, and they then perform the material well