I'm stepping into the thread late, but I totally agree with what Dick said - the more commercial music fills the available venues the less room remaining for traditional music. That's why the concert series I help run in Richmond, VA ( Richmond Folk Music ) is reserved for traditional music only (no singer songwriters - we put it this way "If you are a traditional folk singer/musician and you want to include some of your own songs or covers in the set, that's okay but we are more interested in your traditional material".) It's not that we want to discriminate, but we've deliberately narrowed the focus of our series because we feel like traditional folk music is getting crowded out. I feel the same way when I'm at a singaround or session that is centered around traditional material. I've been at some where somebody walked in and played a couple of Beatles songs and it disrupted the mood. I didn't say anything (probably should have) but I felt it was inappropriate and it did get on my nerves.