But categories imposed from without DO have value, sometimes. I don't know why The Shambles added "and in ignorance" to my "applied from the outside." I wasn't talking about "categories applied from the outside and in ignorance," but categories applied from the outside for legitimate analytical and descriptive purposes.

I do take your point but most musicians are placed in categories, by people with little understanding of the subtle nature of such things. Journalists are possibly the worst example of the ignorance I referred to in placing categories from the outside, and responsible for most of our problems, which is why I introduced the word. I also used the example of UK council officers.

Archaic? Perhaps. But when Joe College sings "Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley," he does not instantly become a "traditional musician," although the song he is singing may be traditional. If you wish to stretch the definition to include him, then the term becomes essentially meaningless, or so it seems to me.

Even if categories are applied from the outside for legitimate analytical and descriptive purposes, from a position of some considerable knowledge, like Sandy above, they are essentially meaningless and will always be a matter of personal opinion.

Especially if Joe College, whatever we think of him, should consider himself to be the 'real thing' and stretch the term to cover himself. As well he may do.