"MGM·Lion, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of UK citizens,"
There is no evidence (apart from claims here) that such numbers are even aware of folk songs in any shape or form, let alone, incline towards a specific name for them.
Do you have any evidence at all of this statement?
If such numbers were interested enough to designate any form of title to folk song, the scene would be far healthier than it is at present.
As it stands, even the relatively small number of people involved in folk song (of any description) are not united enough among themselves to agree what it is and settle for anything from Muskie's fundamentalist, "folk is anything I choose to call folk", to hardened 'purists'
If it was just a question of using therms like 'contemporary folk', there wouldn't be that much of a problem - not as far as the traddies are concerned anyway - not sure how many would put their hands up for 'I Don't like Mondays' being anything but 'rock'
You can't claim 'common usage' as a definition until you have just that - common usage.
What is being argued for here is that traditional folk song is no longer relevant so we can call anything we wish folk.
I even had a long and not very pleasant (eventually) argument with a member of 'The Boat Band' who claimed that 'traditional' was no longer valid to traditional folk song as clubs presenting the other stuff have their own traditions, so we should go and find another title for our music!
give an inch......!
Jim Carroll