Ruth - you put it so simply and so well as ever.

Folk will decide what is folk music, of course - and it can be whatever anyone likes.

But traditional has a reasonably clear, albeit conflicting, set of definitions, which are at least partly supported in common law (though not by Smooth Operations), as they should be.

We really need a debate on how to clarify the definitions of traditional in its various forms, and we need some new words too, because the current situation constantly creates legal, cultural and financial problems.

Having people confuse 'folk' and 'trad' is unnecessary and unhelpful.

I like 'New Folk' - it's is a step in the right direction. (Nu Folk is another existing sub-set and of no help here).

We can go on using the words trad and folk, but we need to take much more care to explain what we mean by each - and that needs new terms.