Jim my objection was not about the link or otherwise between financial backing and size of audience. I was referring to this; "Tom Bliss has admitted that the music he describes as 'folk' in no way fits the long-established and accepted definition, but follows this up with the somewhat feeble argument that he is justified in using the term because of its constant misuse."

I'm painfully aware of the dichotomy of definitions, and am supremely careful what I say in this matter. I've explained many times that I don't call my own music folk without some distancing or qualifying device. And when speaking to those in the know I use the terms 'folk and 'trad' as they are 'correctly' defined. But when talking to the wider world I must use terms that THEY understand. This is not misusing a word, it is choosing language that your interlocutor will understand. It's called communication.

There is no need to make any new definition, just accept that the common use of one of the words used in that definition has altered, and adjust our language accordingly.

You still - and I now accept will until you die - see the erosion/mutation of the meaning of word 'folk' as an invasion of the 54 definition. It is not. Your comment above suggests that I'm condoning and contributing to this erosion. I am not. I am using a word in the way it is understood by a huge majority in the 21st century, while remaining as passionate about celebrating the thing defined in 1954 as you are. We can only celebrate the 54 by making a definitive separation, so people can understand how it came to be, and thus why it is special, and therefore how we can use and enjoy it. But to do that we must use words as they understand them, and try to do so in ways that will open doors, not close them.

Tom

Jim, you mind is made up on this, but if anyone else still has doubts, here are the artists and tracks listed under 'Folk' on iTunes this morning. THIS is my starting point and the reason I struggle to find, and promote, a consensus.

Amy MacDonald        Mr Rock & Roll
Amy MacDonald        This Is The Life
Amy MacDonald        Poison Prince
Amy MacDonald        Run
Amy MacDonald        L.A.
Beirut        Nantes
Billy Bragg        A New England
Brandi Carlile        The Story
Buffy Sainte-Marie        The Big Ones Get Away
Cara Dillon & John Smith        If I Prove False
Cary Brothers        Blue Eyes
Damien Rice        Volcano
Damien Rice        The Blower's Daughter
Damien Rice        Cannonball
David Gray        Please Forgive Me
David Gray        Babylon
David Gray        This Year's Love
David Gray        Sail Away
David Gray        Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
Devendra Banhart        Little Yellow Spider
Don McLean        Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)
Donovan        Catch the Wind
The Dubliners        Seven Drunken Nights
The Dubliners        The Fields of Athenry
The Dubliners        The Wild Rover
The Dubliners        Whiskey In the Jar
Fionn Regan        Be Good or Be Gone
Gordon Lightfoot        If You Could Read My Mind
Harry J. All Stars        Liquidator
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan        Come On Over (Turn Me On)
Janis Ian        At Seventeen
Joan Baez        The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Joanna Newsom        This Side of the Blue
John Denver        Rocky Mountain High
John Denver        Sunshine On My Shoulders
John Martyn        May You Never
Johnny Flynn        The Box
Johnny Flynn        The Ghost of O'Donahue
José González        Heartbeats
Judy Collins        Send in the Clowns
Judy Collins        Amazing Grace
Kate Rusby        Village Green Preservation Society
Kate Rusby        You Belong to Me
Kate Rusby        Underneath the Stars
Kate Rusby        Who Knows Where the Time Goes?
Kate Walsh        Your Song
Laura Marling        Ghosts
Leo Kottke        Vaseline Machine Gun
Leonard Cohen        Suzanne
Leonard Cohen        Hallelujah
Leonard Cohen        Dance Me to the End of Love
Lucky Jim        You're Lovely to Me
Mark Knopfler        Sailing to Philadelphia
Matthews Southern Comfort        Woodstock
Mikis Theodorakis        Horos Tou Zorba (I) / Zorba's Dance
Nick Drake        Northern Sky
Nick Drake        River Man
Noah and the Whale        2 Bodies 1 Heart
Pentangle        Light Flight
Peter, Paul And Mary        Leaving on a Jet Plane
Peter, Paul And Mary        Puff, the Magic Dragon
The Pipes & Drums of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards        Highland Cathedral
The Pipes & Drums of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards        Last of the Mohicans
Ralph McTell        Streets of London
Ray LaMontagne        Crazy (Single Version)
Ray LaMontagne        Trouble
Ray LaMontagne        Shelter
Ray LaMontagne        Hold You In My Arms
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss        Killing the Blues
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss        Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss        Please Read the Letter
Sarah McLachlan        Full of Grace
Sharon Shannon        Galway Girl (With Mundy)
Sharon Shannon        Galway Girl (With Mundy) [Live Version]
Simon & Garfunkel        The Sound of Silence
Simon & Garfunkel        Homeward Bound
Simon & Garfunkel        Scarborough Fair/Canticle
Simon & Garfunkel        The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
Simon & Garfunkel        A Hazy Shade of Winter
Simon & Garfunkel        Cecilia
Simon & Garfunkel        America
Simon & Garfunkel        April Come She Will
Simone White        The Beep Beep Song
Simone White        The Beep Beep Song
Soko        I'll Kill Her
Steeleye Span        Gaudete
Steve Earle & Sharon Shannon        Galway Girl
Tom Baxter        Better
Tom Baxter        Miracle
The Town Pants        Galway Girl
Vashti Bunyan        Diamond Day
The Weepies        World Spins Madly On
The Wurzels        I Am a Cider Drinker
The Wurzels        The Combine Harvester (Brand New Key)