It kind of depends on waht you mean by "selling out". If you're talking about simply knucling under to the commercial aspects of trying to make doing this music as any substantive part of your living, then I'd say that the answer is "Sort of, but not to any destructive degree". The willingness of folkies to use the tools of marketing to push against the mainstream, as it were, has helped to keep this music available to those who want it. There are more festivals and indoor venues than ever. There are more working folkies than ever. There are more people making this music a part of thier daily lives , either by listening or by making music in thier parlors or at social gatherings than ever. The down side (and the reason that I said "sort of") is that it has also resulted in absurd and annoying meat markets like the Folk Alliance conferences, and the promotionally-minded attitude of Folk Alley (the like of which has not been seen since the proliferation of sations on the FM radio band in the early 1970's).   

    If, on the other hand, you mean that the music been completely taken over be commercial concerns the answer is "Of course not....yet." There's the tricky part. As long as we keep in mind what this music is, at its core, what it's for, and what it means to us we'll probably be just fine.

Stephen Lee