It does not matter. The "Oral Tradition", note the Capitalisation, has no relevance in the day to day performance or appreciation of folk music.

In fact, there is no Oral Tradition today because all of the original Orals are dead and gone and everyone learns from someone who learned from recorded music or cuts out the middleman and learns themselves from recorded music.

Is folk music less enjoyable as a result? Sad if you answer yes...