That may indeed be the strategy, but is there any sign that its actually working? There are plenty of opportunities to discover different flavours of music now, and people aren't as invested in one particular genre as used to be the case. I suspect that those at the acoustic end of pop who might be interested in folk already know about it, and the rest aren't likely to change their minds.while those at the poppier end of folk would probably give their eye teeth to shed the folk label and be in with a chance of earning some serious money.

Both the Awards and the weekly show draw an audience but they don't seem to be aimed at serious enthusiasts for folk.