"Like The Tradition, the fossil record remains finite," ( Suibhne Astray).

I'll avoid getting too bogged down with the content of this thread but I do so love analogies and ought to point out that the fossil record is not finite, fossils are still being formed. It's just that fossilisation is a slow process and interrupting it before it's complete would mean you wouldn't see the fossil (in some cases just a partially-decayed mess!!). The most recent recognised fossils are probably things such as Lindow Man, from between 2BCE and 119CE, although there may be more recent examples such as organisms preserved in ice etc. So, if you wish to use that example, music and song are still entering the "tradition" – but you'll need to come back much later if you want to find it fully absorbed as a "fossil".

I'll add that my experience is that there are plenty of discrete "styles" around that coalesce into groups/clubs/sessions. I go to some singarounds that get bored if someone tries to sing an unaccompanied ballad or song and some that love old (traditional) choruses and ballads and don't really appreciate anything accompanied or from the 20th century (let alone the 21st). I go to music sessions (where they don't like songs) where they say "Oh no, lets not have any "diddly-diddly" music" (by which I presume they mean Irish) and others that are advertised as "Irish only". It's not that you couldn't do something else at these places, just that those who keep them running are not "moved" by them. You might say that they are prejudiced or you might say that they have a right to their preferences. For me I go to each and respect the views of the group that carry them on each week/month. I'm grateful for their love of live music and, if I feel like singing a Child ballad, I just make sure I do it at the right club. I don't need to occupy anyone else's space – I just go to the space that's already occupied by the style I feel like at the time. (I haven't yet been to the Klezma session, as I don't know the chord sequences, but I've been to the monthly "music club" which I would class as an open mike venue for singer-songwriters but, although I write, play and sing, I didn't feel my material suited so I've only been back as audience – I wouldn't want to occupy a spot that was better suited to others.)