https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/14-warning-signs-that-you-are-living?s=r

Folk music is now a counter-culture item. Music is being corralled by the music industry which is now being run by hedge funds from Silicon Valley, private equity firms, and slowly becoming so financialized that you won't hear it on media unless these vultures can make money with it.

This is why in the early 40's, there was an interest in folk music in left-wing circles. They appreciated that fact that music was becoming commercialized to the degree that it was a form of exploitation by oligarchic classes. The Left saw it as a usurpation by capitalists who structured it in such a way to make money at it. Non-commercial music such as folk music as Al Grossman, the manager of Peter Paul and Mary said about Llewelan Davis in the movie, "I don't hear any money in it". Al did hear quite a bit of money in what was termed folk music in the late Fifties and early Sixties. The popularization of what was called folk music introduced The Kington Trio. Some people who are on this list were introduced to folk music as a result.


The Weavers split up when some members wanted to capitalize on it but Pete Seeger saw it differently and left the group. The KT went on to fall within the framework of the popular music industry which blacklisted many who were controversial and choked the money stream.
The example of this was the TV show Hootenanny, using a term that was not manufactured by the industry but used as a format for a kind of folk concert that included audience participation. "Sing Along with Mitch" was an attempt to capitalize on this format.

Fast forwards to the present. Private Equity firms, hedge fund managers and financial business people want to own what you listen to, market only what they think you want, and try to exploit it as much as possible. Songs on media begin to sound alike. Movies also.

The radio stations used to have a Top Forty playlist. Now there maybe ten or less. Streaming, planned obsolescence by the passing of the CD, LP or other manufactured devices, Spotify and other net formats are shrinking in what they offer.

Nothing controversial in music will be heard on media unless it makes lots of money. This is why folk music on a grass roots level is so important. It's one of the few weapons we have to confront the juggernaut of the new music industry which dumbs down the musical taste of the public and attempts to financialize anything they can at the expense of actual musical value.

Some may say "so nu?" But it's more extreme now then it has ever been. Artistic musical content is being so appropriated by the business people that the younger brainwashed generation would rather play video games then listen to good music.
Here's my solution. Learn to play a musical instrument, sing a song, and encourage others to do it as well. Tom Lehrer joked about a "Folk Song Army". I think he had something there.
There is a cultural struggle that coincides with a class struggle (sorry if I sound doctrinaire).

We have to fight back before we allow musical zombies to take over our minds through the media and the so-called music industry.

Mudcatters may be aware of the problem and others might be seduced by the marketing ploys.

It's an important topic for those like me who love folk music, jazz , classical or even decent pop music of which there has been some in the past.

We have a folk song tradition if we allow it to flourish.