Qualifiers get added to terms when the terms start to blur distinctions that the uers of the terms think are important.

So folk music is now a genus
and traditional is the species.

"Traditional folk music" now means what "folk music" used to mean.

Once upon a time "folk" music was the music of the "folk," non-professional musicians who were part of a tradition in which music was passed on orally and aurally.

However, "folk music" now includes professional musicians who are not and never were part of such an aural/oral musical tradition and/or whose repertoire includes no material from such a tradition.

I personally don't have a problem with the meanings of words changing. It happens. Can't be stopped.

But if the meaning of a word changes significantly, you either stop using it or qualify it.
Thus "traditional folk music."

By the way, I personally use the term "folk music" only as a conversation stopper.

When people ask me what sort of music I do, if I don't want to begin an extended conversation, I reply "Folk music."

That usually elicts a a weak smile, a "that's nice," and an immediate change of topic.

Russ (Permanent GUEST)