"How can a band be nominated for major British folk awards, make albums that sell in great numbers and attract sell out audiences up and down the country, if the band are adequate at best?"

Fair point to a degree...although to take that line to it's logical conclusion, no act on the UK folk scene is anywhere near as talented as James Blunt, or the Sugababes. Ultimately, whether music is good or not is determined by whether it's good or not, not by "the market". Whether it makes the artist rich, now, that's entirely a different question, resolved by an entirely different criteria.

Gene. (Who holds no brief for anyone).