Yeah, definitions change...most children call riddles 'jokes', because most adults are too careless to explain the difference.
   I have been served 'Strawberry Shortcake' which was merely some strawberries poured over this spongy bit of yellow stuff, rather than real *SHORTBREAD*.
I do woodworking, and have to constantly fight the tendency of wood dealers to try to sell me 'rosewood' that is NOT in the Dalbergia genus. (THEY say 'rosewood' is just a descriptive term and that I am being too particular, and that it is pretty wood and the term is useful because it 'resembles' rosewood).
I buy frozen 'Mexican' food from Trader Joe's, but they have recently reformulated a couple of my favorites by changing the recipes to be less spicy and to have appeal to Yuppie tastes with cilantro and chopped exotic greens on it. It may still have a vaguely Mexican base, but it-ain't-the-same, and the metaphysical question arises: How many changes can they make and still suggest it is Mexican food?

Ron---you have a radio program, right? What do you play on it? Music?

Probably so, but is that what you tell people you meet? They are bound to ask you "what kind?" Do you play jazz? Opera? Gregorian Chant? Rap? (cough).....oh...FOLK! I see...that's different from jazz & opera 'other stuff'. What if I complain that your label is too narrow, and that what I hear on your program is just 'music'?
I **KNOW** definitions and usage change over time....but certain types of changes muddy & dilute any hope of clarity. Just as 'music' wouldn't convey enough information, so now neither does folk...or even 'trad'!! There are those who wish to say Dylan is 'trad', when all they mean is 'popular' and 'older than me'.

If a word is to be really useful, it cannot be too broad: YOU wouldn't go into a restaurant and ask for 'food'...or even 'soup' or 'bread' or 'meat'...and if it purported to be ethnic (Italian, Chinese...etc) there are certain basic recipes you'd expect...even though there ARE variations! If you do NOT like chocolate sauce on your Rigatoni, you'd wonder why they didn't say somewhere that they practice nouvelle cuisine in Italian.

"Does it matter what music is called?" ....only if you wish to be able to converse about it without constant disclaimers and order it without risking frustration.


Do I expect this, Ron, to alter your concept of musical nomenclature? No...of course I don't....but it IS an alternate viewpoint that can sit here for others to ponder and perhaps make them think twice and ask before offering the latest singer/songwriter hit in the midst of a Child ballad session.