I can't get too mad at Roots or Americana. If it gets any non-pop stuff into the hands of teenagers via playlists for radio or spotify or whatever, that's a good thing. For too many years, folk has been served up not at home or on neighbor porches, but only in bars where teens aren't allowed, and the occasional festival. And that's the trad tunes; the songs are hidden away til the wee hours, adding another barrier. This would not have been a problem if kids could have gotten free exposure daily to folkie stuff on the radio, but it was ruled passe for literally decades. So kids now marinate in whatever is considered current pop. It's what is there and what is pushed at them by corporate interests and P.R. flacks. If anyone can get folk on playlists, great, and if they call it roots or Americana, fine. Lord knows generations have been raised to laugh at the word folk, so what's the point of holding that label high if it causes another generation lost.
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