One of the problems to my mind with competitions, formalized courses and exams (for trad. music) is that they tend to lend an unwarranted prestige to those who come out at the top of them. So, if a promoter has a chance to book Joe Smith, First Place Winner in the Big Competition & Top-Of-the-Class in the Trad. Music course, or Bill Jones, Who People-In-the-Know Seem to Think is Great Even Though He Was Disqualified From the Big Competition & Never Had a Lesson, well, who do you think will get the gig? Young players coming up see which way the wind blows and consciously or unconsciously start tailoring their playing to achieve success in the competitions and the exams. I've seen trad. musicians - real ones - who have internalized standards from "outside", that have nothing to do with their own tradition and the context from which it emerged.