Elsie, I don't entirely disagree with you, but I think we're approaching the question from different generations. I would be happy with the definition extant in the early '60s... If it was traditional music that had been handed down (orally or in written form) over the past hundred years or so, music that had "withstood the test of time," it was classed as folk music. Contemporary songs written in the same style were considered "folk-type."

Maybe my problem is that I am neither a professional singer nor a professional listener. I sing purely for my own amusement and the amazement of my friends, so I have a hard time being as serious about the subject as some of you appear to be. Hopefully this is only a venal sin. One thing I have learned in my 60-plus years is that no three people are ever going to agree on a definition of anything as subjective as music. Fun to argue about, though, isn't it?