When I started this thread, my thoughts were that any songs written now would not pass into the tradition. I was always of the opinion that a traditional song was one that had been passed around for so long that no-one could remember who wrote it. I agreed with "Jorrox": "It's unlikely that there will be any unattributable songs for future generations, as a result of technology ... just about everyone can record and distribute their own songs, the authorship should hardly ever be in doubt.

Now I'm not so sure. There are songs around now that a lot of people think are traditional, like Keith Marsden's "Bring us a Barrel", and who knows what will happen to the records of authorship in the future? A couple of generations from now there may be another "folk revival" and someone will find this long-lost "traditional" song and unless they have the time and patience to ferret around among old archives, even non-dusty electronic ones, they will never know that it was written by a bank manager from Bradford.