It's a complex topic, and I'm sure there are many reasons for Ron Stradling's complaint. I don't think for one minute that austerity has much to do with lack of CD sales. There are now so many ways of getting music - downloading, streaming, etc. - that the physical CD as an object is less important.

Take Spotify as an example. I've just looked up Walter Pardon and found two albums by him, plus inclusions of him on other album compilations. I can listen to all of it for free if I want to. I should add that I never rip off music from Spotify, but pay for it if I want it permanently - which doesn't involve buying a CD. Just one example.

As to taste, and whether interest in traditional English (as opposed to Scottish, Irish, etc.) is waning, I couldn't say, and I'm probably too old to guess at a younger generational outlook. The young people I meet at our local sessions - in their twenties - play all sorts of stuff, including very traditional material, contemporary in-the-style tunes by people like Chris Wood, and whatever takes their fancy. And they play to a very high standard.

From my own experience of playing for dancing in a ceilidh band, I see little lessening of interest - as we get bookings regularly, though mainly for functions. The ebb and flow of bookings varies with the wedding and party seasons, but we play as much as we want to, and always to full houses. Mostly we have drum and bass with us, but not always - depends on what the client wants. But it's always fun. And when we're not playing for dancing, there are innumerable sessions and singarounds, as well as folk clubs - too many to fit in sometimes. I'm talking Sussex here - can't speak for anywhere else at the moment.