the whole point of traditional music is that it IS different than slick, commercial, packaged music...no matter how well the latter is done. And if money & popularity were added in quantity, there would be dilution of the product in the name of competition. I will now relate a TRUE story from the days of the 'folk boom' of the 60's

At my university, (The Univ. of Wichita), there were some of us who had recently gotten the folk music bug...and we really did do mostly traditional stuff, for various reasons....and we actually had hootenannies etc. So the school had recently completed a new student union-with a grand carpeted lounge with a sunken fireplace and steps to sit on. So someone said,"Wow, what a place to sing...lets meet here on Fri. nite and try it...."..and we did.. about 4 of us...and it was great- strangers came over and sat and listened and we had a fine time...So, we did it again next week with more people...and it was even better...the 3rd week, word was out and a LOT of people showed up!! And the school officials came to us & said."This is neat, but it is creating a bit of a traffic jam here...how would you like to have some space in the ballroom...we can partition off one end and you can have chairs and a little stage and not clog the main lounge.?" ....Well, the ambiance was not as nice as the lounge, but we could see the point...so we said.."sure". Several weeks we did this..and popularity grew..and more people wanted to come...and the crowd grew...and it became THE place to be seen..and they had to open up the room to accomidate it all...and instead of a 'song circle', it sort of became an 'open stage' where we had to take turns...and 'wanna be' performers came out of the woodwork wanting to be 'seen' in this great venue! And the school came & said "This is getting pretty big...we had better organize it a bit more formally and require people to sign up ahead of time so we don't have more than there is room for...and we will provide a sound system and do the 'work' of keeping the lists of performers.." And they even had a local TV station come and broadcast it live!! And suddenly those of us who had started it all were finding it difficult to get a place in line..(after all, if it is on TV, you want the talent level to be a bit 'higher', so auditions were required)..and they were taking 'bookings' from groups...like a black gospel band with red, sequined uniforms ---and "Peter,Paul & Mary" lookalikes....and one night, the original 4 or 5 of us stood at the back of the hall...unable to get seats...and we turned and looked at each other and shrugged and went off to someones house and played some music..........And do you know....after several more weeks, the whole thing got so out of hand and hand and crazy and the audience reaction was so mixed..and the complications with the TV thing so troublesome that they abandoned the whole thing!! And they went around saying..."This 'folk music' thing is just never gonna work..too much dissention and hassle.."

So we did our weekend hootenannies and shook our heads....and I have seen echos of that scenario several times since, and when I can get someone to listen,(*grin* like you just did)...I tell them my true story...

And I will NOT type several more pages of my erudite analysis of the phenomenon...you all are pretty smart folk..