With respect to traditional material, if a collector had gone to the next village, let alone another region, then they would have found someone who sang the song differently, either in melody, lyrics, interpretation or ornamentation. Traditional singers were always changing it to suit the way they liked it. Was the purist the unkown originator of the song or was there really no such thing because the song became public property? The same would be true for tunes.

With respect to contemporary material, some authors change the way they perform a song or tune over time, sometimes radically, sometimes because they feel they can reinterpret their song in the light of their growth, experience and maturity. Which was the pure version? There are some writers who do not really perform or there are performers that have been acknowledged by the author as having done something better with the song.

I'm sure both the traditional singers and contemporary writers would be more concerned about respect for the material rather than the way it was done.