When a lot of the stuff we care about was written there were no recording techniques and I'm not sure that the music suffered because of it.

Same applies to classical and a number of other genres.

Personally, I'd rather have recordings than have this stuff disappear when it goes out of fashion. I recently bought a CD that is recordings of ragtime piano rolls, which were made by the composer (James Scott, I think it was). They sound like piano rolls--sort of tinny and stiff--but it's as close as I'll ever get to hearing the genuine article.

If there are diehards out there who don't want it recorded, fine--don't record it and don't listen to what's been recorded--but it seems to me that not recording it (and thus not having it available for later generations to hear and learn to appreciate) would be an awfully effective way to kill it off. I've heard a lot of recordings of stuff that I would not otherwise have heard and that I have, as a result, become interested in learning to play.